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De-identified submission 3

Submission to the 2023 Local Government Annual Adjustment Determination.

Good morning Victorian Government,

I hereby write to you today to stop any increase to pay for the above Council, namely [redacted], for the following reasons.

1. [redacted] is one of the most underfunded districts in Victoria, [redacted] has caused significant debt from the [redacted] where [redacted] dollars was given by the State Government. The whole [redacted] cost [redacted] dollars (fully paid by the Ratepayer), yet the Executives and Councillors get rewarded for no effort on funding towards the [redacted]. Except for photo opportunities.

2. [redacted] is one of the most disadvantaged areas in Victoria, [redacted], yet you increase the pay of our Councillors, this is nothing short of a disgrace!!

3. Many of our Councillors have second jobs, some of them with plump Local, State and Federal jobs, so they double dip the public purse, this is simply outrageous, unethical and shows a complete lack of unethical spending by the Victorian Government.

4. How dare they get a pay rise when most are struggling to pay their mortgages, put food on the table, most people haven't got pay rises for more than 15 years!!! The last 3 years during the pandemic, many lost jobs, and yet here you are, giving Councillors and CEO’s a pay rise!!! For what reason exactly???

5. [redacted] has a long history of [redacted], lack of funding, [redacted], and poorly funded infrastructure due to [redacted]. If you drive around our suburbs, we look like a third world country, why is the [redacted] municipality so underfunded and derelict? What is the return on our investment in our municipality when our Councillors just turn up to meetings, [redacted].

6. I have personally written to our Councillors, over hundreds of times, yet the only response I have ever received is about 5 emails. What is it that they do except for turn up for meetings, [redacted]? There are no consequences, there are no KPIs, there should be KPI’s and proof shown that our [redacted] Councillors get paid for what they do.

7. [redacted].

8. Cap allowances for Councillors, increase on performance via community feedback, [redacted].

9. No increase to any pay until they show us exactly what they do, Councils are one of the most highly paid public servants in the Country, yet her you are, just giving them free money with a community consultation or explanation.

10. Pay increases to their allowances need to be based on performance of funding for the municipality, there needs to be a yearly community forum where Councillors, CEOs and Executives show/speak to the community exactly what they’ve done, by way of using a rate scoring analysis tool and an open forum and display it in the annual financial report.

Lastly, your whole system of remuneration needs an overhaul and investigation, otherwise these feedback and consultations ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!

Kind Regards,

[redacted]

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