Audit slammed a waste

By Alison Noonan
AN INDEPENDENT audit to examine the efficiency of Casey council has been labelled a ‘waste of paper’ by Mayfield Ward councillor Steve Beardon.
Cr Beardon slammed the report at Tuesday night’s council meeting, claiming the council had not taken his call to review the city’s level of service delivery seriously.
The Cranbourne councillor had requested a report to compare the city’s efficiency in terms of rates per person and rates per property with other suburban metropolitan councils.
He said the investigation was necessary to determine whether the council was working to provide the maximum benefit to residents.
However, the one page finding ‘dodged the question’ and treated ratepayers like idiots, Cr Beardon said.
“It is a load of rubbish. The report is half of what I was looking for,” he said.
“All this tells me is that we are efficient in collecting money. It doesn’t mention service delivery at all.
“What I would like to know and what was requested is how is our money being delivered to residents through services in the community.
“Have we as a council identified the services expected and required and are we delivering those services efficiently?”
Balla Balla Ward councillor Colin Butler said it was no surprise that the council report showed that Casey had the lowest rates of the 12 metropolitan councils.
He said many of the municipalities examined used a differential rating system where rural and residential properties were charged differently.
“About nine of 10 of these council’s have a differential rating system.
“If we had differentiated between rural and residential there would have been a different outcome. “Let’s compare residential and rural and you may stop in your tracks and see what I have been going on about for the last three years,” he said.
Councillors voted for a further report to come back to the council in May comparing rates collected and customer satisfaction with service delivery and outlining comparisons of the 12 outer metropolitan councils.