A Lithgow City Council visit to Victoria to learn how the Latrobe area has coped with huge job losses in the mining and power generation industry has been shelved due to an overrun in councillor expenses.
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The decision not to go ahead with the trip may mean the loss of $1300 spent booking airfares. Council general manager Graeme Faulkner said the council would have the option to the use the credit of the amount on airfares up until May 8, but stated council would be unlikely to do so.
Special arrangements had been made with representatives of four councils to meet in the Latrobe Valley to discuss its strategies for economic recovery in the wake of the closure of Hazelwood Power Station.
Mr Faulkner said Lithgow council was particularly interested in hearing from the Latrobe City Council, which received significant state and federal government support for workers to transition away from the mining sector.
Cr Wayne McAndrew, one of the councillors who was scheduled to leave on the trip this month, said he was unaware until the release of the April 29 meeting agenda that all the funds for councillor professional development had been used.
"What was available for all councillors was $17,000 and that's been overspent - I make the point that it's been overspent still with three months to go in this financial year," he said.
"That poses problems for future attendance at any event until the end of the financial year."
Cr McAndrew has asked for a report to come back on the budget, which he said showed some inequality. He said, based on figures provided to councillors by chief finance and information officer Ross Gurney, nearly $11,000 of that total was spent by two councillors.
"It should be $2000 each, so there's a fair allocation," he said.
Despite the trip being cancelled in the short term, Cr McAndrew said he hoped it would go ahead in the new financial year.
"I think it is vitally important," he said.
Cr Steve Ring said there was a draft policy on councillor expenses which had been discussed at the finance committee and flagged that government regulations would soon be on the way that would enforce more training for councillors.
"The amount councillors in this council are paid, in the group four category, are some of the lowest in the state," he said.
"No councillor should be out of pocket unnecessarily in the performance of their duties."
He said professional development was important in making sure councillors were fulfilling their role to the best of their ability.
The shortfall in funding was highlighted by an invitation to the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) conference. Cr Cassandra Coleman was recently appointed president of the NSW branch of that organisation and will attend the conference at $1000 a head.
Cr Coleman said her role brought Lithgow positive attention.
"Being president is not just about supporting all women, but it's an opportunity for me to promote Lithgow," she said.
"When I speaking to women from across the country, they will know that I am a Lithgow City Councillor, that I stand up for Lithgow and I will be presenting Lithgow as a place to go."
Cr Maree Statham said she would not be attending.
"I do believe we will have a backlash from ratepayers... that's why I've chosen not to go," she said.
"The problem is our budget is tight, we're not doing well financially, we're doing better and we want to do better again."
Council voted to support Cr Coleman's attendance at the conference.
