Bega Valley Shire Council has unanimously rejected a request from the State Government to waive a debt of almost $1.1 million connected to the new Bega Police Station.
NSW Police requested the bill for use of public land during construction of the project be dropped because they had already exhausted their budget allocation.
But Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick successfully moved an amended motion which went against a staff recommendation to approve the request.
“I acknowledge that the police are over-budget on the police station and had problems with contractors but we’ve had the same problem, this council, ourselves,” Mayor Fitzpatrick told the meeting yesterday afternoon.
“You only have to look at our library and art gallery out the side where we had the same problem. Exactly the same contractor,” he said.
“We had to find a way out of it and cover all costs.
“It’s a million dollar hit on our budget if we don’t receive any money so we can’t afford it in our financial decision. It’s unfair to burden that cost across our community and burden our ratepayers when it was a State Government proposal payed for by tax effectively collected by the State Government.
“I have no hestitation in refusing to waiver at all.”
A number of councillors sought clarification on the issue before they voted on the issue including Greens member Peter Haggar, who questioned whether there was any suggestion local policing services would be impacted if the council said no to the request.
He was told there was not.
