City under budget pressure

The City of Albany is under pressure to draft and adopt a strong 2011-2012 Budget that will set the city on a path to rebuild its finances.

With the Budget due to be finalised in July, council has started its deliberations under guidance from its new chief executive Faileen James, but said it was too early to comment.

However, local leaders are clear about what they want to see.

Albany MP Peter Watson said council needed to put aside money for roads and footpaths and not slug ratepayers with another rate rise.

“I think the new CEO is going in the right direction, but I just do not want to see cost-cutting affecting the community,” he said.

“For the last probably five years, we have had rate increases but we have not seen anything tangible come out of it, it has just been for paying back debt.”

Last July, council endorsed a significant hike to vacant land rates, with some ratepayers facing a 113 per cent increase.

Council eventually caved in to community pressure and backed down on the decision after widespread criticism from residents.

Albany Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association president Elizabeth Barton said the city needed to be transparent and accountable during the budget process.

“The association would like to see more open, transparent and honest accountability from the council and would like more consultation with the community,” she said.

Ms Barton flagged money for the maintenance of roads outside the inner city.

Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Graham Harvey wants to see more money for marketing the region.

“We are missing out on the marketing of the region, given the amount of money other regions are spending on marketing,” he said.

“Margaret River receives a fair amount of exposure because of the marketing dollars that are allocated by various agencies, including their local shire.”

Mr Harvey said the CCI was willing to work with the city to develop a marketing strategy for Albany and the Great Southern region.

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