North Sydney’s 87% rate explosion: Less than 10% needed for pool fiasco, councillor says.

By ANNA USHER

Only around 10% of the proposed 87% rate rise from North Sydney Council is needed to fund the Olympic Pool fiasco, according to Councillor James Spenceley.

A well-known Sydney businessman and company director, Spenceley, said the planned rate increase would boost the Council’s coffers by about $544 million over the next ten years.

According to Spenceley, the additional $544 million raised by the rate increase will go to repairing the Council deficit ($35 million) and building cash reserves ($112 million).

New infrastructure and costs arising from the Council’s 2024 “Informing Strategies” consultation will be allocated $167m, $112 million to infrastructure renewals and $139 million to infrastructure backlog.

Spenceley is one of just three North Sydney councillors to reject Council’s official line supporting the rate increases – and said multiple assets could be sold.

“But I am yet to receive an adequate answer as to why we can’t sell some council-owned office space and retail shops, other than now is a bad time to sell these or that they are returning more than our term deposits or interest cost,” he told Mosman Collective.

North Sydney Council has a vast commercial real estate portfolio, including retail outlets, car parks and surplus properties like the Ernest St Council depot, a 4,572 sqm site which Spenceley said could be sold for an amount close to $100 million.

He added: “Council has access to fixed rate Tcorp government loans, with a completely fixed/stable revenue base and pricing power; there is no reason Council can’t have a much higher level of debt. For example, the pool is planned only to be 40-50% funded by debt.”

“In the corporate world, you need to be conservative about the level of debt. Markets change as does your revenue, but a government entity is different; perhaps the people putting this plan together have not adjusted fully from the commercial world to that of the finances of a government body.”

“The long and short of it is there is a book of work in fixing our assets; there is clearly additional funding needed for the pool *but* a huge amount of the money is being used to “repair the finances”, in essence, this is trying to plan for, and save for a rainy day … in the middle of a rainy day,” he said.

“There will be plenty of time to repair the finances, but not at the same time as you are proposing increased spending on infrastructure renewals, new infrastructure and backlogs and the un-budgeted pool expenses.”

The council meets on Monday night to vote on the proposed 87% increase, which will then go to the state government tribunal IPART for approval.

Spenceley said, “There are several ways to reduce the impact of the rate rise, but it takes a desire or interest or curiosity to explore them; it is pretty clear there is no interest in anything other than making the ratepayers pay.”