City facilities face closure

Some “big-ticket” facilities could be closed or their services reduced as the City of Greater Geraldton looks to save $7.5 million in the next financial year.

Not even the Queens Park Theatre — which will close for the first four months of 2016 for major renovations — or the likes of the art gallery, aquarena and library, are free from scrutiny.

And at least one small town is on a knife edge, fearing it may virtually be shut down if services are slashed.

The City has said “anything and everything” is possible as it seeks to cut costs. The second leg of a Community Summit will be held in Geraldton tomorrow.

More than 100 selected leaders from all walks of life will make a priority list on what services should or shouldn’t go — or have funding cuts.

The consultation process with community members has been tagged “visionary”, though some will have different opinions come decision time on what gets chopped — or cut.

Almost 100 non-mandatory services, including social, arts and environmental programs, will be ranked and the feedback taken to a council meeting.

The City said its financial situation had been impacted by government funding, rising utility costs and a growing backlog of assets.

Chief executive Ken Diehm said State and Federal annual funding cuts of around $3.7 million had impacted the City’s budget.

“Also, over the past 10 to 15 years, we have spent a lot of money building new infrastructure to service the growth of the community, ” he said.

“In the past four years, it has added about $2.5 million to our annual operating costs.”

Mr Diehm said the City has $24 million worth of assets which needed replacing now.

“We have important financial challenges so we can meet our bills when they fall due, not get into much debt, keep our rate increase below 5.3 per cent and renew assets when required, ” he said.

“We need to find $7.5 million in savings.

“We have done a number of things, including asking our staff to find quick wins and asking for voluntary redundancies.

“We are reviewing our asset holdings, fees and charges, and importantly we are engaging the community to tell us what they think is important in terms of the range of services we provide.

“That information and the information from last year’s community panel and level of services workshop, will be fed in to determine the Budget we will give to council.”

Mullewa, which became part of the City of Greater Geraldton on March 27, 2010, is bracing for “bad news”.

“There’s not much here, we cannot afford to lose anything, ” one local said.

“We think the figures on the spreadsheets people have been given are misleading.”