South Gippsland must grow the rate base

From the public gallery at the South Gippsland Shire Council one hour meeting, Wednesday, September 21, it was fascinating to hear, during the ‘show and tell’ segment, of the pleasant interactions the councillors enjoyed with constituents across the shire.

However, for the entire segment, and for that matter, the entire meeting, the serious matter of rates, concerning too many ratepayers right now, was not mentioned. Not once.

Councillors, you don’t live in a parallel universe - you must have heard complaints. It’s a matter of such community concern that you cannot ignore it - as you have just done.

You, our elected representatives, must come out from under the doona, and present some idea how you plan to mitigate future rate increases. Most of us understand you don’t control individual property valuations, but you can influence the applied rate.

Councillor utterances, so far, confirm that you have no plan. If that perception is correct, how about you start by dragging the ‘Growth for Reduced Rates Plan/Strategy’ (and the Addendum thereto) out of the administration’s hidey hole and poring over that, as suggested to you by South Gippsland Action Group many months ago?

That concept has gathered dust since it was launched January 2019. The last elected council liked it, the local press and estate agents praised it. Then it foundered during the ‘do nothing’ wasted years of Administration. The challenge has always been there for someone to present a better plan - so, are you up for it? Size matters! If SGSC remains small, we get eaten - that’s the nature of all things the world over!

Mind you, implementation success depends on controlling administration staff levels, so that they do not eat up the increased gross revenue. Managed properly, servicing an increased population does not mean reducing services provided (although plenty of opportunities exist there). Commercial enterprises do this exercise routinely (and SGSC is, in fact, a corporation).

Direct, not ask, the CEO to enable the direction in which you want to take the shire. Employment contracts include ‘Key Performance Indicator’ clauses for a good reason! You are the ‘board’ - a year in ‘control’, it’s time for you to make your mark. You have only two levers available - pull both. Or get out of the way!

John McCombe, Leongatha.