Council debt ‘furphy’
I read with great concern a letter to the editor from my colleague Cr Peter Hemphill, as printed in last week’s edition of this publication.
I can only interpret Cr Hemphill’s claims about the budget and council’s debt as a deliberate attempt to mislead our residents; or an admission that he doesn’t yet understand the contents of the borrowing strategy and draft budget that he voted for personally.
In the 2013-14 Hobsons Bay budget, one can easily determine that the council borrowed a sum of $9.247 million to repay existing debt and meet a shortfall in the council’s defined benefit scheme.
Proposed in the draft 2014-15 budget, additional borrowings of $7.34 million are slated to fund additional capital works.
This strategy also proposes additional borrowings of $3 million in the 2015-16 financial year to again fund additional capital works, increasing council debt to $19.34 million.
Our residents need to understand that the claim Cr Hemphill has made – that nearly all borrowings are being used to cover the shortfall in the defined benefit superannuation scheme and not for capital works – is a complete and utter furphy.
Cr Paul Morgan, Hobsons Bay council
