Perth Voice Interactive

RESIDENTS at Leederville Gardens have been spared a huge hike in fees, with the retirement village’s board deciding to absorb the tripling of Vincent city council’s management fee rather than pass it on.

Last week the council decided to nearly triple its fee, from $58,000 to $150,000, after a review found it had been failing to keep pace with costs.

The centre’s board, which includes mayor John Carey, has decided to pay the increase from its $1.4 million in reserves.

CEO Len Kosova says other ratepayers have effectively been subsidising Leederville Gardens since 2001 under a “curious” informal agreement between then-senior council staff and the board.

With no formal contract in place the council is unsure where its management and maintenance responsibilities lie.

Residents this week told the   there was confusion over who’s responsible for replacing broken doors, old ovens, installing airconditioning and general repairs.

Mr Kosova says he’s never seen anything like it, and he’ll now examine whether the council should even be managing the privately owned centre.

“It’s a very curious arrangement that any local government would enter into a business that it’s entirely unfamiliar with, without doing due diligence on the matter to understand its obligations,” he says.

“Firstly, we are not experienced in managing retirement villages. Secondly, retirement villages are governed by legislation which we are not automatically or intimately familiar with, nor even aware of.

“Are we the right organisation to be running this facility, not only in terms of the benefits we are providing to the residents and the board, but also to the broader residents of the city?”

He says Leederville Gardens is a huge impost on resources, with board meetings requiring attendance of three senior council staff. He believes $150,000 is a conservative estimate of what it’s costing the council in staff time alone.

Mr Kosova says Leederville Gardens might find it’s better value to contract a company that specialises in retirement village management and maintenance.

He’ll prepare a report for councillors with a recommendation.

Mayor John Carey says there’s another problem with the 2001 deal: currently three elected members sit on the board, so when recommendations such as charging residents higher fees come before council there’s a conflict of interest between representing all ratepayers and the residents. He’s intending to step down from the board.

by DAVID BELL