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00:00:00 Mayor Stewart: Good morning everyone. I declare the special meeting open. I would like to acknowledge that today we are meeting on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi people and I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging. I note that everyone is in attendance and there are no apologies. Today the purpose of the special meeting is to adopt Council's operational plan, budget and associated documents. Item 1 on the agenda is the operational plan 2021. On page 3 is the staff recommendation. Do I have a mover Anderson? I have a mover. Thank you. And a seconder? I'm standing up. Stand up. Is there any discussion in regard to this? I will. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I think it's really important to understand that the budget is how we create the money to achieve our corporate plan and each year our operational plan. We've got five themes and the key themes that are coming out this year, the five key themes for me is that we have under the first one, while protecting our environment and valuing it for our community, is we have in this budget substantial investment in the implementation of the Noosa River Management Plan.
00:01:00 We have got a strategy to try and reduce emissions for landfill. And to continue to partner with the Nature Conservancy to implement the oyster reef restoration project, as well as the Ringtail Ural Forest, which is a partnership between ourselves and several other organisations. Our community theme is about connecting safe and happy and being able to meet its potential. And obviously the current budget is really looking at the current COVID pandemic and how we respond to that and how we support our community groups and a number of small projects that are there in there too, to help move that forward, as well as some large council projects in terms of the community house development in Peregian, the review of the mobile library services, and looking at implementing the master plans for both Cooroy and Peregian.
00:02:00 Similarly, with our economic theme, we are both looking at responding to COVID, but also looking at redesigning the digital hub to improve and enhance that. Long term, I think we've got a lot of work to do. Long term planning, not only will we be adopting the plan, but we have got money in this budget for a new placemaking team approach to try and look at the character in our villages and our business centres around the Shire. And of course, it's the final thing is about how council tries to pursue excellence through our community and to be a council that our community is proud of. And in that respect, one of the things we're looking at doing in this budget is to review the way we engage with the community to achieve the other objectives and other actions within the operational plan. So I do recommend the operational plan to you. I think it will be another very full year for both council staff and everyone in the community and business community we collaborate with.
00:03:00 Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. Anyone else? Discussion? Councillor Bruce Leitch. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll crack on. Yes. Councillor Stockwell has mentioned some of the more glamorous elements of our corporate plan going forward. And there are, of course, a number of principal proposals in there to undertake for the next 12 months, which are very important to our local community. Those mentioned under the Noosa economy will be of utmost importance to our community, of course. Undertaking a review of our local economic plan and developing a new five year plan and continued progress of council's industry development plan. Yes. The design of the bridge and digital hub extension and fit out in the community house down there. They're all good projects going forward. Of course, in this COVID environment, supporting our business community is going to be vital. So those plans are going to be vital to the future of our businesses in the Shire and how we can support them as a council going forward.
00:04:00 Of course, one of my highlights will be the progress, the implementation of the master plans for Noosa District Sports Complex and Cooroy Sports Complexes. I think they're well overdue and I'm glad to see there's money in the budget this year to facilitate the commencement of those works. And probably the least glamorous one of all is the one that always heartens me is the development of a new waste management management strategy. The future, you know, is has been pretty, pretty clearly written with changes to waste management and recycling over the last few years with regard to how China doesn't take recycling things. And the opportunity there to, of course, get organics. And I think that's something that we're going to have to sort it and out of our, our landfill so that our landfill is there for many, many years to come. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor. Anyone else? We might go to a vote on the staff recommendation. We've got a right of reply. Right of reply. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councillor. Mayor Stewart: All in favour? Speaker 1: Yes. Thank you, Kylie.
00:05:00 I'll just check with the council directly. Mayor Stewart: Oh, yes. And councillors, just so you know that everyone's comfortable with the TV cameras being present. Yes. Thank you. Just the right side. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Mayor Stewart: Okay. Item two on the agenda at page six is the adoption of the 2021 budget policies. Again, there is a staff recommendation on page six. Do I have a mover for this? I'll move it, thank you. Thank you. And seconder? Thank you, Councillor Finzel. Councillor Wilkie: I don't wish to speak. Mayor Stewart: No, no one wishes to speak. Could anyone wish to speak on this matter? Okay. All in favour of the staff recommendation? Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Item three on the agenda at page 25 is the adoption of the 2021 budget. I would like to move that we suspend standing orders to allow council to receive budget speeches from myself and any other councillors. I'll second that, Madam Chair. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Thank you.
00:06:00 Mayor Stewart: All in favour? Good morning. My fellow councillors, CEOs, staff, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to present my first budget as Mayor of Noosa. What timing. Our first budget as a council coincides with one of the most challenging periods we could ever have imagined. This once in a hundred year pandemic has brought significant challenges to our council's finances and within a few months we as a council have had to adopt to a new financial, business and social environment that none of us would have expected. The impact of COVID-19 has been extraordinary and forced us to reshape our budget thinking to have even a greater focus on how to support our community. How do we meet community expectations with lower revenue without significantly increasing rates? In many ways we are no different to our residents who are reviewing their budgets for their households and their businesses. Our philosophy with this budget which has been shared by councillors and staff has been very clear from day one. Save where we can to spend where we must. As a collective council, guiding a community through a pandemic carries enormous responsibility and it's important we continue to be financially responsible, keep rates low, deliver services and continue to invest in what's important to our residents. This has resulted in some difficult decisions for us and such as deferring our much loved
00:07:00 curbside waste collection service. But making those hard decisions has meant that we can put more resources where they are needed to support our local residents and businesses. We acknowledge right across the Shire that people are doing it tough. This council has made a conscious decision that now is not the time to increase the rate burden on our community. Today we are pleased to announce that we will freeze an increase in the rates notice for almost all of our rate payers. More than 80% of our rate payers will not have any increase in their total rates bill. To achieve this we have reduced three levies that appear on the residential rates notice. To offset our usual CPI increases for general rates and our waste services we have reduced the environmental levy from $70 to $56. The sustainable transport levy will decrease from $30 to $22.50 and the heritage levy will drop from $10 to $5. Obviously over time we will look to bring back those levies to their current level
00:08:00 levels. But short term reductions in those levies will ensure that most residential rate payers will see no overall increase in their rates notice this year. I trust our rate payers will welcome that news. We also know that our community needs a range of support options to deal with our operating environment brought about by the COVID pandemic. Some in our community may find it difficult to pay their bills so we are allowing extra time for people to pay their rates this year. Instead of the usual 30 day period we are allowing up to 60 days for residents to pay their rates. As usual if anyone is finding difficulty in paying their rates they are welcome to contact council and we can put in place special arrangements to assist. Our pension and rebates and rate concessions for community groups are also continuing in this budget. This budget has been called our COVID budget and for good reason. It has changed the landscape. Bearing in mind we as a community with over 4,000 people currently on job
00:09:00 keeper, one of if not the largest percentages of people in the state have acknowledged that times will most likely get tougher for many people. When job keeper and job seeker finish we will potentially find our community hurting even further. That is why we as a council have $2.5 million in surplus cash held in our disaster management reserve available to call on should it be deemed necessary. We are also providing extra support for our community as a result of COVID. For our community we are providing $250,000 in community grants tailored specifically for COVID-19 recovery. We have waived council lease fees for our community groups where possible and committed almost $1 million to upgrade community halls and sporting facilities. Many of these halls and public facilities are in the hinterland. The economic impact of COVID is devastating and for many businesses it will be long term. Some have adapted and are showing signs of
00:10:00 recovery. Others are facing enormous challenges. Our business roundtable led by our economic development team has proved successful and been a major contributor to the development of a nine point business support package. Initiatives from the roundtable include waiving fees, rents and adapting a flexible approach to dining and trading permits. Providing business grants. Establish business mentoring and professional services advice. Cutting our payment terms to seven days for all local and regional suppliers. This budget provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief for small businesses in a time when they need it most. At this time we need to continue to invest in infrastructure. We initially made cuts to the capital program to save ratepayers money but we were very pleased when both the Commonwealth and state governments announced funding for councils to undertake local projects. In fact we received approximately $4.6 million to help deliver essential community projects that will deliver
00:11:00 tangible outcomes for the community. Our capital budget of $27 million includes some major projects already underway such as the Orealla Bridge replacement at Sunrise Beach and the Hilton Terrace Tewantin intersection upgrade and these will be finished in the coming months. There's $5.4 million to replace three bridges including the Wahupunga Lane Bridge in Kin Kin and the Tablelands Bridge in Cooran. We've allocated $4.3 million for various roadworks across the Shire including bitumen resurfacing, the annual gravel road re-sheeting program and three significant road rehabilitation projects in Noosaville. There's a renewed commitment to invest in footpaths and bikeways across the Shire. The cell at the Noosaville landfill site will be expanded at a cost of $2.1 million and a second weigh bridge will be constructed at the landfill to improve traffic flow. The Noosa Hinterland is well catered for in this budget. There are 12 different projects in Pomona ranging from
00:12:00 improvements to community halls and facilities to more footpaths. Over 3 million projects have been earmarked for Cooroy this financial year which includes about $1.7 million for road resealing work and I've already mentioned two new bridges in Kin Kin and Cooran. Following on from the $1.25 million Council recently received for bushfire disaster recovery funding, this budget incorporates a number of measures to address community concern regarding bushfire management. In particular over $115,000 has been allocated for hazard reduction burns and fire trial management with funding also allocated for improving our fire management planning in high risk locations across the Shire. This investment will ensure we can be well prepared for the upcoming fire season to ensure we manage our risks and our community is safe. We have put a focus on delivering tangible outcomes for our community, providing grassroots style projects that will make a difference to the lives of our residents. I'm truly humbled to be in the position of Mayor and I'm justifiably proud of Council and the budget we
00:13:00 have prepared given the extraordinary circumstances we are currently facing. In closing I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Councillors. When the CEO tells us that this is the hardest budget scenario he has dealt with in over 20 years, you know you were in for an interesting time. This has been a team effort in every sense of the word and I'm very proud of all that we have achieved as a Council to get us where we are today. I would also like to thank Council management for their detailed work in preparing this difficult budget, especially the CEO of Noosa Council Brett de Chastel and Director of Corporate Services Michael Shave and his team. They have carefully analysed every detail and finance staff have provided sage advice to us all. It is acknowledged, it is appreciated and it is valued. We have struck the right balance between spending money when we need so that we can support our community without increasing rates while people are hurting financially. We have a plan to get back to a balanced operating budget within two years and I'm sure we are up to the challenge.
00:14:00 Finally, to quote a great humanitarian and former president, a budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page. It is an embodiment of our values. To our community, it is you who we value and it is with you in mind that this budget was crafted. Grassroots spending, saving what we can to spend where we need, where we must, to ensure the greatest benefit to you, our community. Now more than ever, we are in this together. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Madam Chair, may I begin by commending the Mayor for your very gracious comments and I'd also like to endorse your very comprehensive summary of this historic budget. The finance, I'd like to begin with a special thanks for the finance staff as they deserve thanks for clearly setting the framework for this challenging budget. As to the councillors for disciplining themselves to work cooperatively within a shire-wide focus within tight financially
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00:15:00 responsible limits. Each year's budget brings opportunity for great projects that improve the lives of those who live and work in our community and despite the difficulties wrought by COVID, this year is no exception. The key objective was to deliver the same level of service for residents and ratepayers as in previous years with a net zero percent increase for those paying the minimum general rate. If anything, thanks to timely and much appreciated 4.6 million state and federal funding boosts, there will be improvement works on halls, roads, footpaths and facilities across the shire, including projects that acknowledges and responds to the needs of the most vulnerable, such as the building of a new shine crisis accommodation facility for women and children fleeing violence and a laundry, showers and toilets to be used by those without homes where they access support services at United Synergies in Tewantin. While many councils struggle with deficit budgets every year, because of COVID we're facing
00:16:00 our first, but in a resilient financial position thanks to practices outlined in a non-mandatory proactive financial sustainability policy adopted shortly after de-amalgamation. This has allowed council to build up this community's cash reserves through returning successive surpluses which have been used to halve the debt inherited at de-amalgamation and therefore massively increase this council's capacity for borrowing should it ever be needed or spend more out in the community rather than on interest repayments and also helps us to keep rates low. For the first time we have collectively agreed to relieve the burden on ratepayers by temporarily reducing the environment, transport and heritage levies. Again, this was only done because detailed financial modelling provided by expert staff showed the temporary reduction and the path to recovering the levies did not adversely impact the programs and projects already committed to under these levies and that there were healthy cash reserves in each account
00:17:00 for contingencies. It's fair to say with the uncertainty there's still difficult times ahead but if all goes well and with conservative budgeting it's intended to return to surplus sooner rather than later while always minimizing the burden on ratepayers, preserving and where possible improving service levels for our community. Again, I thank the finance staff for the many detailed briefings they prepared, modelling multiple financial scenarios that allowed us to make the most informed and responsible decisions possible in these circumstances. Again, I also thank councillors and the Mayor for their discipline, focus and their hold of Shire perspective during this historic budget and finally a special note of thanks to the hundreds of Noosa Council staff who will continue to deliver these services funded by this budget with pride and professionalism. Thank you
00:18:00 Councillor Finzel: Thank you everybody and thank you so much for the fabulous work that everyone has undertaken in all their roles and I'm truly grateful to Michael and his team and all the departments for the valued work that you've brought to the table at this time. When this council came together for the first time in mid-April it was clear that unprecedented and unpredictable challenges lay ahead for the people, businesses and communities of our Shire. Now more than ever we need transparent governance and strong leadership at all levels to manage the impacts of the global pandemic. With the tireless diligent work of councillors and staff we have delivered a sensible 2020 Noosa Council budget that is
00:19:00 empathetic to community needs and will ensure the continued delivery of vital services. Many people are facing tough times and we must do what we can to offer relief and support and resilience in our Shire. The achievement of the goal to deliver services without increases to the people's rates is a moment to be celebrated. When I decided to run for council last year I made a commitment to people in the Hinterland that I would be their voice at the table and do my utmost to secure infrastructure investments. We are pleased to announce that this budget has allocated more than $6.5 million to be invested across 12 Hinterland projects. Among them are upgrades for cultural sites like Pomona Memorial School of Arts, Museum and Railway Gallery. For locals these are important facets of our heritage and collective identity.
00:20:00 As we encourage tourists to return to our towns these rich unique cultural experiences can attract visitors and complement local businesses. The capital works program also has a significant Hinterland focus. There are two major bridge projects one for each Kin Kin and Cooran and a significant road resurfacing program to be delimited. I cannot overstate how important well maintained roads are for our community. Everyone should feel safe when they drive to work, drop their kids off to school or travel to meet up with friends. There's more than enough isolation at the moment and having good roads is a very literal and necessary means of making sure people are connected. We know marginalised groups across Australia have been most affected by COVID-19. I am very
00:21:00 proud that our council has made a measured commitment of a quarter of a million dollars through community grants to the construction of vital crisis accommodation. This is a timely and vital research for resource for vulnerable people particularly women and girls in volatile living situations. It is a great symbol of the way this budget has been formed to support COVID-19 recovery and positively impact people's lives. While there is still a lot of work to do there could be a few more twists in the coronavirus tale. This budget shows that our council stands ready to respond to any challenges. It is a sensible budget and that one that commits to service delivery including infrastructure works and community programs which are vital to surviving and thriving in COVID-19. Now as we move forward we must continue to
00:22:00 act with transparency, communicate with empathy and promote unity. Together we strengthen communities. Councillor Lorentson: I would like to thank both the state and federal governments for stepping up and recognising the importance of local governments in providing essential services for our communities. The funding we received has been used to fund infrastructure projects and generate local jobs. Most importantly the funding has taken the burden off our rate payers. The $1.8 million we received through the state government's Work for Queensland package has been used to build new footpaths, inject money into local halls and fund the construction of a crisis accommodation for at-risk women. The other $2 million state government funds has given $50 million to local communities.
00:23:00 local projects the green light including an upgrade facilities at united synergies it's terrific but these state grants focused on investing in community amenities and community well-being projects these grants have also given us an opportunity to fast track a number of critical infrastructure projects including the completion of a lighting upgrade from the noosa heads transit center to bicentennial hall i would like to take this opportunity to thank the director of corporate services michael shea the ceo bret de chastel and the commitment of council staff and fellow councillors in delivering a financially responsible and balanced budget which has kept rate rise to zero the covert related workload pressures on finance staff have been significant and have not gone unnoticed so thank you supporting our community during covert to deliver essential
00:24:00 services to protect our communities. Thank you. our lifestyle has been our commitment and it's underpinned all our budget decisions this pandemic has brought chaos and uncertainty to this town it's brought economic hardship but it's taught us the value of connectivity and community and it's taught us the value of a dollar and what is essential spending and why it is important to save and finally this pandemic has grimly reminded us that even in paradise it sometimes rains thank you Deputy Mayor Stockwell: so um this year is going to be remembered historically for a number of things but the ceo and the director of corporate services is about one word it starts with d and they've never mentioned it a budget time before and it's deficit you should focus the cameras on them right right and that is because
00:25:00 we've never been in this financial position in the last 100 years this will probably be the easiest budget for the next one or two years in my mind because i don't see that what is happening in the world is going to be a quick v-shaped recovery it's going to be a long recovery and we're fortunate as council wilkie mentioned that it's only because we're in a sound financial position that we've been able to do a deficit budget without significantly affecting what we do how much we do and how much we're in debt so what hasn't been mentioned so far we're only lending 3.4 million dollars and that's purely for long-term projects which will have intergenerational effects in the waste treatment in the waste facilities we've achieved the zero rate rise but we've had no significant change to the quantum of capital works we've been doing and while we've reduced levy income as has been mentioned by council lawrenson it's been offset by the success in state and
00:26:00 federal government stimulus packages i think it's really important to acknowledge we're only in this position to have the budget we have because of the rapid response from all levels of government and the significant stimulus that has come through local government in recent months it's also been mentioned that we're doing this in a way that tries to maximize the opportunities for local contractors and local employment we didn't spend all our stimulus on large projects that would require large companies we've broken it up into many different projects which is suitable for tendering by local contractors and to that we've got a lot to thank staff because these stimulus packages you haven't got weeks to respond you've got days so in the middle of preparing a budget we've got staff going out and preparing shovel ready projects for millions of dollars and there's still more that are to come and they're doing this after having to redraft the budget completely
00:27:00 so we have to thank them but as i said started with it is uncertain times in this year budget reviews are going to be just as important as today we have indicated last month that what we'll be doing between now and budget review two or three is we're going to set up a consultation framework which has allowed us to talk to the community about how we should respond when we know better what the economy more broadly is doing if things are worse and people are having trouble paying the rates and our incomes down we may have to adjust what we do if things improve the tourist economy picks up and we have more income than we budgeted for then and more stimulus package it's likely we'll have more projects to add and i think that's really important that what we hope to do in the coming months is to be a consultant of council that can be as responsive as possible to get the best possible outcomes for this community
00:28:00 Councillor Wegener: thanks for everybody for these wonderful speeches and in carrying out the informing the community as there's so much details of what's happened so far with this budget because it's been a real long ride hasn't it but um thank you so much for your time and i hope you have a good rest of your day and i'll see you in the next one. Thank you. when we first sat at this table as a new council michael shave told to us we are facing a budget crisis and he said we're going to base our response to this budget crisis on two principles first no cap no cuts to staff and second no cuts to services and i think that was really important because we started with a set of principles right off the bat and with the fellow councillors mayor michael shave trent and the entire all the management teams out there we you guys stepped up and following these principles you took an approach to conquering
00:29:00 this and doing it really really well and that is the noosa way i congratulate you guys and all of us at the table here for having the courage to fall to create these principles to start with that with that direction right off the bat and especially uh michael shave i congratulate you for having the the strength of courage to follow through because it's been a hard one you guys here and this has been the noosa way and this is following principles through this approach to fight with the goal as it is an outcome and this is the second time that michael shave has actually had to face this where he faced this during the amalgamation when again before just six and a half years ago the second time in a decade you're faced with an absolute economic crisis and yourself and no playford and others with a principled approach with a strong sense of character pulled
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00:30:00 together and made noosa strong strong enough to actually handle the crisis that we have today and then going back of course further to decades before amalgamation we have been a very principled approach to governance and with strong characters with strong senses of courage to follow through with on these principles and make noosa the paradise it is today so this is a budget that noosa the staff counselors the management teams and all of noosa can really congratulate ourselves on because it's a team effort and we're all a part Mayor Stewart: of it so thank you very much thank you councillor wayne councillor jurisevic Councillor Jurisevic: In 2014, there were a whole bunch of doubters that turned around and said de-amalgamation. A council like Noosa couldn't stand on its own two feet. But it's taken a pandemic to see our first deficit budget produced. And these are difficult times, these are challenging times, not just for this council,
00:31:00 but for every council and every level of government and every business around Australia, around the world in fact. So to achieve what we've achieved in this budget I think is a milestone that I hope we never have to do again. But it's a milestone and it's a credit to not just the CEO and Michael, but to every one of the directors and every member of staff in here. To have put together, I've never seen us turn around and have a budget prepared and go, throw it out, let's start again. I've never heard the sound of sharpened pencils, sharpened to the nub, to try and find every last saving that we could. Well, I didn't really hear them because there was no one in the building to listen. But I'm sure they were out there in their homes where they were working from home. Challenging times. And through all of this, not being in building, not being together out there, all the challenges that we've faced, I'm mightily proud of the budget here. I concur with all the sentiments of every one of the councils around the table
00:32:00 and every discussion we've had. I mean, we certainly put our minds, you know, really, really to all the challenges that have been presented to us. And I think we've come up with a budget that delivers well for our community, delivers a number of upgrades to community facilities, and the community will benefit for years to come in probably one of the most difficult times. And again, as Amelia alluded, we thank the federal and state governments for their contributions to make up those shortfalls in our capital works project that now allow us to fulfil, a more full capital works agenda that we wouldn't have been able to achieve otherwise with all the tightening of belts that we've had to have concurred. I think this is my seventh budget. I don't think we've gone through a process like this before. I'm sure that in the years to come, we are going to have to continue to have this mindset. As Michael has alluded to in our discussions, there's a couple of years to come out of this if things continue to go right.
00:33:00 We're not sure what's coming around the corner with COVID or anything else in the future. Look at what we've incurred in the last 12 months, you know, with bushfires. And people are still recovering from bushfires, not only here, but around the country, but also this COVID pandemic. It's infiltrated not just our health, but our lives and our capacities to survive through this. But I'm sure the resilience that we've shown here and the resilience of good financial management over the years since the amalgamation of the reason we stand here today and able to face our community with at the end of the day a bottom line that says 80% of our community aren't going to be paying more in their rates, you know, on their rates notice this year. There's a race rise, but the bottom line that people aren't going to be paying anymore. And that's a credit to the work put in by the staff and by this team that we have here today. The new councillors have certainly walked into a dynamic. I don't think anybody was prepared for.
00:34:00 But again, I think we've met the challenges and I look forward to the road ahead and the recovery that Noosa will undergo, I'm sure. And hopefully less of the challenges like this for the years ahead. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you, Councillor Durstidge. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, everyone, for your speeches. And I think it's testament to the fact that we're all so proud of this budget. And again, thank you, Michael and Brett and all the staff. I move that we resume standing orders. Councillor Wilkie: I'll second that. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Thank you. All in favour? Thank you. Now, there's a, on page 25 of our agendas, councillor, there are a number of budget adoption motions and there are 13 in total. And I will call one by one, but I won't read out each one in its entirety. Motion one. The budget for the financial year ending 30 June 2020. Incorporating statements of income and expenditure, financial position, cash flow, changes in equity, long-term financial forecasts, revenue statement and revenue policy, and the 2021 capital program be adopted.
00:35:00 So moved by the Chair. Thank you. Seconded by us. Thank you, Councillor Lorentson. Motion. Does anyone want to speak to it? Anyone wants to speak to that motion? Councillor Lorentson: All in favour? Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Motion two. Council resolves to levy the differential. General rates for the 2021 financial year. Mover? I'll move it. Thank you. Seconder? Second. Thank you, Councillor. So anyone? All in favour? Motion three. Council resolves that the ratings category of rateable land in its local government area and a description of each of the rating categories for 2021 be as follows as per pages 26, 27 and 28 of our agenda. And I have a mover. Councillor Lorentson: So moved by. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Driswich. Councillor Wegener.
00:36:00 Seconder? Thank you. Would you? Councillor Driswich, you have to speak to it. All in favour? Motion four. That council resolves to levy the special charges for the 2021 financial year as set out in the revenue statement. Councillor Lorentson: Mover? Councillor Stoker. Mover? Councillor Wegener. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Stoker. All in favour? Motion five. That council resolves to adopt the overall plans, annual implementation plans and benefited area maps specified in the revenue statement. Councillor Lorentson. Thank you. Seconder? I'll second it, Madam Chair. Would you like to speak to it? All in favour? Motion six. That council resolves to levy the utility charges for the 2021 financial year. Mover? Councillor Finzel. Seconder? Councillor Driswich. Seconder? Councillor Finzel. Would you like to speak to it? Councillor Finzel. No, thank you. All in favour?
00:37:00 Motion seven. That council resolves to levy the separate charges for the 2021 financial year as set out in the revenue statement. Councillor Finzel: Mover? Mayor Stewart: Councillor Stockwell. Seconder? Councillor Finzel. Seconder? Thank you. Councillor Stockwell, would you like to speak to it? All in favour? Motion eight. That council resolves that rates and utility charges and the Queensland Government's emergency management fire and rescue levy for the year ending 30 June 2021 be levied six-monthly as set out in the revenue statement. Is that a mover? Councillor Lorentson. Seconder? Councillor Driswich. Seconder? Would you like to talk to that? No. All in favour? Motion nine. That council resolves to grant concessions to ratepayers as set out in the revenue statement. Councillor Wilkie. Seconder? Councillor Wegener. Would you like to speak to that? No, thank you. All in favour? Motion ten. That council resolves that all rates and charges and the State Government's emergency management fire and rescue levy must be paid within 60 days after the date of issue of the rates notice.
00:38:00 Seconder? Councillor Stockwell, would you like to speak to that? All in favour? Motion 11. That Council resolves that all overdue rates and charges bear interest as set out in the revenue statement. Councillor Lorentson, thank you. Seconder? Councillor Wegener, thank you. Councillor Laurenston, did you want to talk to that? No. All in favour? Nearly there. Motion 12. That Council delegates to the Chief Executive Officer its power under section 81 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 to identify the differential rating category into which each parcel of rateable land in the Council's local government area is included. Thank you. Seconder? Councillor Lorentson, thank you. Would you like to speak to that? All in favour?
00:39:00 Last motion. Motion 13. That it be recorded that in each case where a preceding motion refers to a matter set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 2021 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 10th of July 2020, that matter is incorporated by reference into and forms part of the terms and content of the motion and will be so incorporated and form part of the terms and content of Council's resolution to adopt the motion. I move that. Thank you. Seconder? Thank you. I have a question Deputy Mayor Stockwell: of the movement. What does it mean? Speaker 1: I can answer that. It means. You probably gather the adoption budget essentially legal process making sure we comply with the Local Government Act. One of the reasons for this regulation of this motion, we get them checked by our lawyers to make sure we do comply with the Act. This is the motion that really puts the package together and makes sure that all those
00:40:00 things are adopted as one and brings it together. I'm sure Councillor Jurisevic was just about to explain that for you. Councillor Jurisevic, what he said. And yet I did know that. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Anyone else like to speak to that? Councillor Jurisevic, would you like a right of reply on that one? Councillor Jurisevic: No, no. I think I have it. Mayor Stewart: All in favour? Thank you. Item four on the agenda is the level of service catalogue on page 36 of our agenda. And there is a recommendation on page 36. Do I have a mover? I'll move that. Thank you, Councillor. Seconder? Councillor Wegener, thank you. Would you like to speak to that? Councillor Lorentson: No, thank you. Mayor Stewart: All in favour? Thank you. Item five on the agenda at page 39 is the statement of estimated financial position for the 2019-2020 financial year. Do I have a mover for that? Councillor Stockwell, thank you. Seconder? I'll second that. Thank you. Would you like to speak to that, Councillor Stockwell? All in favour?
00:41:00 Thank you. Item six on the agenda at page 42 is application of national competition policy reform for the 2021 budget. Do I have a mover? Councillor Lorentson? Councillor Asuncion, move. Seconder? Frank Wilkie? I'll second. Okay. Councillor Asuncion, would you like to talk to that? No. All in favour? The last item of business is item seven, which is our organisational structure. There is a staff recommendation on page 45. Do I have a mover? I have a mover for this. Councillor Finzel, thank you. Seconder? I'll second that. Thank you, Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Finzel, would you like to speak to this? Councillor Finzel: I would like to say, in consideration of this, we are aware of the workload that the staff has put in, and we are more than happy for this recommendation to acknowledge the pressure on the staff and the workload that they have, and it will increase as we go forward with all the extra work underway that has come down from the state and federal government.
00:42:00 Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Finzel. Would anyone else like to speak to this motion? Councillor Jurisevic: Only to acknowledge, I'm pleased to say that the community recovery officer to deal with the challenges of following the bushfires and the implementation of the works following the bushfires is undertaking. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Asuncion. Anyone else? Councillor Finzel, would you like to apply? Speaker 1: I don't want to say anything. Mayor Stewart: No, I don't have to. No, thank you. All in favour? Councillor Jurisevic: You said we're all in favour. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: That brings us to the end of our special meeting for adoption of the 2021 budget. Thank you, all councillors. This has been a team effort in every sense of the word. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Brett. And thank you very much to the staff who will have the very arduous job of implementing all of the budget policies and procedures. So thank you all and that finishes the meeting.