Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT city council is raising management fees for its Leederville Gardens retirement village almost 300 per cent.

The council says it’s been subsidising the centre, housing 66 elderly residents, for years and following a review the fee is tripling from $56,650 to $150,000—the amount it says it costs to run the village.

Each unit currently pays about $1000 a year in fees: if the cost is passed on in full, it will see fees skyrocket to $2400.

Mayor John Carey says he expects the centre board—of which he’s a member—to dip into the village’s $1.4 million reserves to cushion the blow.

Residents were invited to a recent forum to discuss the changes: the mayor says more than 40 showed and were largely understanding the fee must rise.

Elsewhere in the Vincent budget, residents’ rates are set to rise an average 2.8 per cent but business owners face a steep 8.5 per cent hike.

Former councillor Dudley Maier says that’s far too big a chunk of the pie given how few businesses there are.

“This is a triumph of popularism over principle, and the tyranny of the masses” he says, suggesting it’s easy for the council to slug traders because there are fewer of them to make a fuss. “Before anybody gets a warm fuzzy feeling that everything is hunky dory, you have to remember the rates increase is the highest since 1999,” he notes, when taking the residential and business rates together and averaging them.

Mr Carey says the key point is three-quarters of ratepayers are residents and most people suffer a tiny increase. And he reminds ratepayers that last year 89 per cent of commercial properties had no increase, and some saw their rates go down.

With rents remaining stagnant—affecting gross rental values, on which rates are based—40 per cent of commercial properties won’t pay more than last year.

Mr Maier says despite his misgiving about business rates he’s pleased with new CEO Len Kosova and finance chief John Paton.

“The main point I’d recognise is the level of detail, the analytical thoroughness of the supporting documents, and the focus on developing a long term plan,” he says. “Mr Paton and the CEO are to be commended for this.”

Vincent’s big projects for the next year include:
• $1.6million for bike network and other “travelsmart” (non-car transport) projects;
• $800,000+ for Charles Veryard reserve clubrooms and floodlighting;
• $650,000 for the delayed Cheriton Street community centre redevelopment, which will turn a disused railway cottage into a neighbourhood hub;
• $335,000 for the Mary Street piazza open space on Beaufort Street, due to be finished before the Beaufort Street festival in November;
• $300,000 for the greening plan for more trees et al and $277,500 for more public artwork.

by DAVID BELL