Frankston City Council in Melbourne’s south has been overcharging ratepayers more than $10 million in fees, according to a Freedom of Information request by Council Watch.
Bundled costs are included in “waste charges” that are meant to cover just private curbside trash collection, such as bin collections.
Dean Hurlston, President of Council Watch, claims the town is “gouging” its citizens.
“They’re meant to be collecting fees for the services they actually provide but instead what they’ve decided to do is move things like street sweeping and graffiti into kerbside waste levies,” Hurlston stated.
Council Watch was able to obtain data indicating that over $3 million is allocated for street cleaning, $425,000 for graffiti removal, and $2.1 million for trash collection in public areas from the proceeds of Frankston’s waste tax.
“In any other industry the ACCC would absolutely fine ,” he stated.
Phil Cantillon, the chief executive of Frankston City Council, stated that the services are provided by all municipalities and are “paid via rates or waste-related charges.”
The results of Council Watch’s FOI research also revealed that Manningham and Stonnington were charging millions of dollars in fees to locals for services unrelated to the collection of kerbside bins, such as cleaning public restrooms and stormwater drains.
Although this practice has been carried out by more than half of Victoria’s 79 municipalities, Local Government Minister Melissa Horne is taking tough measures.
“This is clearly outside of the guidelines and it’s clearly outside of the Local Government Act,” said Minister Horne.
She has given councils a year to improve.
“Our expectation is that local government operates in a transparent and accountable way.”
President of Local Government Finance Professions (FinPro), Bradley Thomas, has praised the additional time to review the new state standards, noting that they clarify what should be included in the waste charge.
“I know councils are doing lots of work to be able to inform the community so the community really understands what the general rates are going towards.”
He urged impoverished citizens to accept payment arrangements and hardship offers.
“When people do have real genuine difficulties in paying I really suggest people pick up the phone and talk to their local councils.”
