Shire of Augusta-Margaret leaders defend future staff cost projections

Shire chiefs have defended forecasts which show staffing costs will continue to climb by more than $1 million annually for the next few years.

Financial forecasts in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River’s most recent corporate plan show rates income and employee costs will keep pace as they continue to rise.

New chief executive Andrea Selvey told the Times the increases were a necessary reflection of the region’s growth and the expectation among ratepayers for key services to continue.

“As the community grows, service demand also grows,” she said.

“If we stay still in terms of our resourcing, then it’s obvious that service levels will drop.

“Our work with the community needs to determine whether or not they’re willing to maintain a service level or increase a service level, in which case are they willing and able to pay for that service level?”

The most recent budget saw staff costs leap more than $3 million on 2023-24, though mandatory increases to superannuation on top of a 4.5 per cent pay increase for shire workers were the biggest part of the 15.4 per cent growth.

Employee growth itself was up 3.5 per cent on the previous financial year at 207 full-time equivalents.

The latest corporate plan estimated income from the ratepayer base would increase at about $1.4m for the next three financial years.

Meanwhile, long-term financial assumptions posited staff costs increasing during the same period at $1.1m in the subsequent two financial years before a slight dip in 2027-28 where employee costs could only rise about $800,000.

Public submissions during the most recent budget process argued it was unfair the local government could lean on ratepayers for funding rather than cut costs as mainstream businesses might be required to do.

Speaking to the Times, Ms Selvey said that misperception ignored the hard work councillors put into helping guide the shire towards a balanced budget.

“That might be a perception, but it’s certainly not the reality,” she said.

“With our councillors, (and) every council I’ve worked in, a rate increase is the last option, and one that is an incredibly hard decision.

The chief said several councillors ran businesses themselves and understood the consequences in the community of increasing costs.

Shire president Julia Meldrum did not specifically comment on whether it was sustainable to continue absorbing increased rates income to run the local government.

“Our budgeting process carefully considers where we can save on expenditure to keep rate increases at a minimum, while ensuring we can continue to fund all the services our community deserves and expects,” she said.