Figures provided by City of Sydney Council indicate there is a tight leash on councillors’ expenses despite accusations made by the Daily Telegraph that spending was out of control.
In an article published on January 13 with the headline “Local councils living it up at our expense”, the Daily Telegraph took aim at councils across the Sydney Metropolitan area for wasting ratepayers’ money.
“Clover Moore’s Sydney City Council amassed $598,595 of expenses – almost twice its councillor wage bill of $309,260,” said the article.
But the article ignored the fact that more than 70 percent of the councillors’ expense claims were for the cost of support staff.
Labor Councillor Meredith Burgmann said that before support was provided the workload could be overwhelming. Councillors are now granted up to 35 hours of administrative support each week. “I must say it was needed,” said Cr Burgmann. “Basically you found yourself licking your stamps.”
“I get up to 200 emails per day regarding council business,” she added.
A spokesperson for the City of Sydney said that the remainder of the expenses, which totals just over $175,000, is made up of “domestic travel expenses such as accommodation and registration fees for seminars and conferences, as well as office administration such as telephone, faxes, postage, meals and refreshments.”
The council’s expenses policy also places restrictions on different types of expenses, such as $5000 per councillor for local transport, $4000 for communication and $3000 for inter-state conferences.
“It would be very hard to rort them because they’re all capped,” said Cr Burgmann.
The 10 councillors, including the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor are responsible for an annual operating budget of more than $350 million, an extensive capital works program of $150 million and more than $3 billion in community assets.
Councillors are paid an annual stipend of $29,000, with the Deputy Lord Mayor receiving $45,000.
This compares to remuneration of $32,600 for councillors of Melbourne City Council and $58,700 for the Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor.
In addition, Lord Mayor Clover Moore donates her Lord Mayoral fees to a trust which has distributed $775,000 to local charities since 2004.
by Aaron Cook
