Councils accused of hoarding money

Sydney councils have breached their commitment to undertake maintenance work on buildings and roads by withholding funds from infrastructure levies, a recent audit says.

The Property Council of Australia, an advocate for developing the property sector, found local councils across Sydney have accumulated $650 million in unspent infrastructure levies.

The latest audit of section 94s infrastructure levies is based on local government financial statements for 2010-11.

The City of Sydney council had raised $25 million in the last financial year and only spent half of it, bringing its total to $62.9 million, as reported in the Daily Telegraph.

NSW Director of the Property Council of Australia, Glenn Byres, said: “The money is just sitting in a bank account, not being used, and it’s going nowhere.”

“The levies are collected on the promise they will be spent on essential infrastructure – which is exactly what councils are failing to do.”

The audit revealed Sydney councils have set three new records, the highest amount of unspent levies, as well as the most raised and the least spent in any year.

A spokesperson for the City said: “[The Council] contributes most of the infrastructure costs planned for the future. The City has planned for $1.6 billion in infrastructure in the period to 2021, with just $367 million anticipated to come from development contributions.”

Mr Byres said the City’s performance is efficient compared to smaller councils such as Ku-ring-gai which was the worst offender.

President of the Potts Point and King Cross Heritage Conservation Society, Andrew Woodhouse, said the community needs to be informed on the issue and suggested the funds be used to conserve local heritage sites in the city.

“There should be a full annual audit showing the community where the money has actually gone or rate rebates provided if it’s not used,” he said.

A City spokesperson said a large portion of the funds are committed to the Green Square Urban Renewal Area and can’t be delivered until development starts on the town square.

Mr Byres suggested a need to reform local government by reducing the number of councils in Sydney. “Smaller councils are less able to provide and manage the finances needed to manage a community,” he said.

Mr Woodhouse has written to the Local Government Minster, Don Page, asking him to implement an audit trail that can be viewed online, so locals can see how the money is being spent.