Key Dates
2013 Budget Added $34 Million unallocated roads
2015 Money transferred to Buildings then finally to the Municipal Office Project
2017 Municipal Office Project Removed from Budget by new Council
2019 June 21st Council Dismissed
2019 June 28th $30 Million New Expenditure Added to the Budget within one week of Council dismissal
2019 June 30th Administrators Approved Officer Budget Recommendations.
These included the $30 Million Future Unallocated but also $3.8 Million for Stage 1 Municipal Precinct. Total available for Municipal Office Project is now $33.8 Million.New Expenditure
2019 ??? Officers briefed Administrators on Leongatha Hub which NOW seems to include a new Municipal Office Component.
Interesting observation-Officers seem to have included the $34 Million proposal into the Budget BEFORE they briefed the Administrators on the idea. Were the Administrators FULLY INFORMED on this project when they approved it in July 2019 at the budget meeting?
History Of The Municipal Office Project And How History Repeats History of First Attempt.
The first attempt to have this project included in Council budget was in the 2012-2016 Council. The $30 Million appeared as unallocated roads and later on it appeared as finance for the Municipal Office Project.
The debate in 2015 showed two divergent views at Council. One group, the majority block approved this project but three Councillors fought against it.
The new Council removed the Project and all references to it from the Budget and Council Plan early in 2017.
History of Second Attempt.
An amount of $3.8 Million for Municipal Project and $30 Million Unallocated Future Funds were included in the Budget approved by the Administrators in July 2019.
These two entries within the Budget were NOT included in the draft budget put out for consultation with the Community in April 2019. They were NOT included in the budget papers until AFTER the Councillors were dismissed.
Without being in the Council Plan or the previous year’s budget Officers recommended their inclusion within a week of Council being dismissed and approved of by the Administrators.
The public were unaware of these significant changes and were not made aware by Council.
On BOTH occasions it seems that Officers/Administration included the funds without consulting with the ratepayers and indeed apparently without telling the Councillors at the time either.
Below is the Record from Council Minutes showing the briefing session on the Council Offices.
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