The Shell Cove project has kept Shellharbour City Council in the black. Photo: Kellie O’Brien.
A move to cut funding for a South Coast arts body in a bid to “trim the fat” has sparked heated debate, as Shellharbour City Council prepares to place its draft suite of budget and financial plans on public exhibition.
The documents – which include the draft budget, rates policy, fees and charges, and long-term financial plan through to 2036 – revealed council will see a short-term surplus thanks to the Shell Cove project, but will begin to operate in the red from year five.
Councillor Kellie Marsh added to the motion to “withdraw from the Regional Arts Development Organisation (RADO) and not provide a financial contribution for the ’26-27 financial year or future years”.
Shellharbour’s budget proposed to provide about $50,000 per year for five years to RADO, which is also supported by Kiama and Shoalhaven councils.
“It does pain me that I’ve had to put up to withdraw from the Regional Arts Development Organisation,” Cr Marsh said.
“… but I’m not seeing bang for buck for Shellharbour and I think we need to have more localised investment than, really, subsidising things that happen in other local council areas.
“Whilst I thank them very, very much for their efforts, unfortunately, I can’t see any tangibles.”
Councillor Rob Petreski said he couldn’t support the motion based on the withdrawal of support for RADO, describing it as “an extreme action”.
“What the South Coast RADO does do, and it does do quite well, is actually support artists,” Cr Petreski said.
He said it had an incubator program and start-up ventures that led to people becoming successful artists.
“Unfortunately, anytime there’s economic rationalisation being applied, the arts are the first to cop it,” he said.
“The arts can set the tone for a place. It can set the feel for a place. It can set the look for a place. It can set the sound for a place.
“I think if we look at things on a spreadsheet, there are many things we could cancel and could save money, but I don’t think it would improve our lives, and I think the RADO is one of them.
“I would ask that all the arts community send in some strong rebuttal to the proposal of cutting the arts funding.”
Cr Marsh said they were still supporting Shellharbour artists, with opportunities through the Lake Illawarra Art Trail, artist in residence programs, incubator grants, and community event inclusions.
“It’s not like we’re just putting a line through the arts,” she said.
“Unfortunately, in tough economic times, this is what community expect of us.
“They expect us to trim the fat and, unfortunately, this is one thing that we do need to trim the fat on.”
Councillor John Davey said the documents highlighted that balancing the delivery of services and maintenance of facilities to meet community expectation and managing council’s short-term financial sustainability continued to present a challenge.
“On the upside, our short-term financial position is buffered by the Shell Cove project, a reminder to give a nod to those early visionaries, mayors, town clerks, GMs and CEOs and others who had the foresight and tenacity to persevere with the Shell Cove Marina project against vociferous opposition,” he said.
However, he said the 10-year long-term financial plan revealed ongoing annual deficits and shortfalls, with Shell Cove delivering surpluses up to and including year four.
“So after the Shell Cove dividend ends in five years, we’re facing five years of deficits without that buffer to protect or support us,” he said.
He said it meant council needed to be especially prudent when considering new versus renewal of large-scale assets.
“Or to put it another way, be alert to rainbows and other unattainable and unsustainable goals,” he said.
Cr Marsh also added a fourth amendment to change the street tree bond in the fees and charges section from $3980 to $1500 for one to two trees, and from $7961 to $3000 for three to four trees for 2026-27.
“I feel that the cost of building and housing is so hard at the moment, and for people to try and fork out that amount of money … that needs to be lowered,” she said.
She said council continued to apply the mandatory State Government pension rebate of $250, and she had previously proposed a motion to advocate for the government to increase that.
“That rate, as we know, hasn’t changed since 1994. I just think it’s absolutely deplorable when you look at what pensioners are currently paying for everything,” she said.
Cr Marsh asked for a letter from the minister to be included in the public exhibition items that stated “they will not be doing anything to change that”.
She said the documents also revealed IPART had applied a rate determination of 3.1 per cent core rate peg and a 1.2 per cent population growth factor, resulting in a total rate increase of 4.3 per cent, which she knew for many families would be “quite difficult”.
“But what I am proud of is that we have not, yet again, gone for a special rate variation,” she said.
“There’s many councils around us that have gone for special rate variations. We have not chosen to do so.”
The motion to put the documents with amendments on public exhibition for 28 days until 26 May was endorsed, after councillors voted six to one. Cr Petreski voted against it.
