Minutes of Finance and Governance Committee Meeting

Minutes (Open Portion)

Finance and Governance Committee Meeting

Page 3

16/07/2019

Finance and Governance Committee Meeting (Open Portion) held on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 at 4:30 pm in the Lady Osborne Room, Town Hall.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Zucco (Chairman)

Deputy Lord Mayor Burnet

Sexton

Thomas

Dutta

PRESENT: Alderman M Zucco (Chairman), the Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor H Burnet, Alderman Dr P T Sexton, Councillor M Dutta, W F Harvey and Alderman S Behrakis.

APOLOGIES: Nil.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE:

Alderman D C Thomas

NON-MEMBERS

Lord Mayor Reynolds

Briscoe

Denison

Harvey

Behrakis

Ewin

Sherlock

Councillor Harvey was co-opted to the Committee

1. Co-Option of a Committee Member in the event of a vacancy

DEPUTY LORD MAYOR BURNET

That Councillor Harvey be co-opted to the Committee.

MOTION CARRIED

VOTING RECORD

AYES	NOES
Zucco
Deputy Lord Mayor Burnet
Sexton
Dutta

2. Confirmation of Minutes

DEPUTY LORD MAYOR Burnet

The minutes of the Open Portion of the Finance and Governance Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 12 June 2019 and the Special Finance and Governance Committee meeting held on Monday, 8 July 2019, be confirmed as an accurate record.

MOTION CARRIED

VOTING RECORD

AYES	NOES
Zucco
Deputy Lord Mayor Burnet
Sexton
Dutta
Harvey

The minutes were signed

3. Consideration of Supplementary Items

Ref: Part 2, Regulation 8(6) of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015.

Recommendation

That the Committee resolve to deal with any supplementary items not appearing on the agenda, as reported by the General Manager.

No supplementary items were received.

4. Indications of Pecuniary and Conflicts of Interest

Ref: Part 2, Regulation 8(7) of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015.

Members of the committee are requested to indicate where they may have any pecuniary or conflicts of interest in respect to any matter appearing on the agenda, or any supplementary item to the agenda, which the committee has resolved to deal with.

No interest was indicated.

5. Transfer of Agenda Items

Regulation 15 of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015.

A committee may close a part of a meeting to the public where a matter to be discussed falls within 15(2) of the above regulations.

In the event that the committee transfer an item to the closed portion, the reasons for doing so should be stated.

Are there any items which should be transferred from this agenda to the closed portion of the agenda, or from the closed to the open portion of the agenda?

No items were transferred.

6. Committee Action Status Report

6.1 Committee Actions - Status Report

File Ref: F19/93504

DEPUTY LORD MAYOR BURNET

That the information be received and noted.

MOTION CARRIED

VOTING RECORD

AYES	NOES
Zucco
Deputy Lord Mayor Burnet
Sexton
Dutta
Harvey

Delegation: Committee

7. Questions without Notice

Section 29 of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015.

File Ref: 13-1-10

7.1 Alderman Sexton - Refinancing of Loans

Question: Given the changing landscape which includes: a) Reducing interest rates and b) The 2019 Banking Code of Practice which states: Australians, along with businesses large and small, entrust their financial security and wellbeing to one or more of the banks who are signatory to this Code. In signing this important document, these banks made a commitment to you, their customers, to ethical behaviour, to fair and responsible lending practices and to the protection of your privacy.

Has the Hobart City Council written to our bankers/lenders to enquire about refinancing options, to better manage out debt and reduce overall interest cost?

If so, can Council be provided with the response to inform whether there are any benefits to refinancing our debt to reduce our interest cost and/or provide greater capacity for borrowings to help accelerate out capital works program to benefit our ratepayers as well as the economy?

If not, can the General Manager write to our lenders and enquire of the lenders about any benefits to refinancing Council loans?

Answer: The General Manager took the question on notice.

7.2 Alderman Behrakis - Administration and Service Delivery Costs

Question: What percentage of Council expenditure is administrative costs and what percentage is in relation to service delivery? Could that be broken down by department?

Answer: The General Manager took the question on notice.

7.3 Alderman Behrakis - Staffing Numbers
	Question: In regards to the recent restructure, what were the number of council staff before and after the restructure? Answer: The General Manager took the question on notice.
7.4 Alderman Behrakis - Elector Poll
	Question: In regards to the Height Limit elector poll and the $200k of ratepayers funds spent, can a breakdown be provided from the TEC as to what that money was spent on? What percentage was for advertising, and what forms of advertising were used? Answer: The General Manager took the question on notice.

7.5 Councillor Burnet - Electric Charging Stations

Question: The first State Government charge smart test electric vehicle charging grant was $50k of an estimated $170k, the balance borne by the City of Hobart. This is a huge impost on Council. What other measures can be taken in order to ensure Council(s) do not bear so much of the cost, given the increased demand for electric vehicle fast charge stations?

Answer: The General Manager took the question on notice.

8. Closed Portion of the Meeting

DUTTA

That the Committee resolve by majority that the meeting be closed to the public pursuant to regulation 15(1) of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015 because the items included on the closed agenda contain the following matters:

· Information provided to the council on the condition it is kept confidential

· The security of the council, councillors and council staff

· Lease of Council land

The following items were discussed: -

Item No. 1 Minutes of the last meeting of the Closed Portion of the Council Meeting

Item No. 2 Consideration of supplementary items to the agenda

Item No. 3 Indications of pecuniary and conflicts of interest

Item No. 4 Reports

Item No. 4.1 Digital Signage Screens in Car Parks

LG(MP)R 15(2)(g)

Item No. 4.2 Cleary's Gates Depot, Hobart - Placement of Communication Infrastructure - Request for Permission to Negotiate a Licence

LG(MP)R 15(2)(g)

Item No. 4.3 Town Hall Security - Provision of Additional Door - Level 1 Macquarie Street Wing

LG(MP)R 15(2)e(i)

Item No. 4.4 Rear of 55 Elizabeth Street - Lease

LG(MP)R 15(2)(f)

Item No. 5 Committee Action Status Report

Item No. 5.1 Committee Actions - Status Report

LG(MP)R 15(2)(a), (c)(i), (c)(ii), (f), (g), (i), (j) and e(i)

Item No. 6 Questions Without Notice

MOTION CARRIED

VOTING RECORD

AYES	NOES
Zucco
Deputy Lord Mayor Burnet
Sexton
Dutta
Harvey

There being no further business the meeting closed at 4.32pm.

TAKEN AS READ AND SIGNED AS A CORRECT RECORD THIS
13^th DAY OF august 2019.

CHAIRMAN