Kiama Council needs to balance its budget to prove financial sustainability and meet the requirements of the PIO. Photo: Kiama Council.
Kiama Council is pushing forward with proposed widespread cuts to costs and services, despite community backlash.
At a recent extraordinary meeting to discuss the council’s $4.5 million budget deficit, Acting Mayor Melissa Matters did not attempt to hide its poor financial position.
“We have spent more than we earn for years and years and it has to stop,” she said.
“The buck quite simply stops with us. We make the hard calls and we get on with the job.”
A report to guide the 2026/27 budget caused alarm within the Kiama community when it was released shortly before the Easter long weekend.
To meet the requirements of the performance improvement order implemented by the NSW Government four years ago, council needs to make up a deficit of $4.5 million by the end of June next year.
The report outlined potential closures or cuts to services such as youth, cultural and tourism, alongside reduced hours at libraries and Kiama Leisure Centre and proposed changes to occupancy and use of the Pilot’s Cottage Museum.
If council is unable to make up the deficit it may face further action by the State Government such as the implementation of further financial controllers or even an administrator to run the council.
“When we have already come so far and done so much, we have just five items in the performance improvement order to go,” councillor Matters said.
“We have moved mountains to get to this point but the work is not done yet.”
A number of councillors expressed concerns that they hadn’t been given enough time and information to fully consider what was being proposed.
“No-one around this table takes these decisions lightly but what we’re being asked to consider here isn’t just numbers on a page – it’s real services, real people and real impacts,” councillor Yasmin Tatrai said.
Councillor Imogen Draisma agreed: “Without vision, without a methodology and without a way forward, I cannot support a budget as proposed and the options considered by council today.”
However, councillor Stuart Larkins was blunt in his assessment: “This upcoming budget will be one of the most difficult budgets handed down in Kiama Council history.
“One of the realities of being a councillor and a local elected leader, is that I not only advocate and work for our community but I must make considered and thoughtful decisions.
“And as a leader, sometimes you need to be the one that makes the tough calls. Even if those decisions can be challenging, uncomfortable, and unpopular.
“We need to safeguard our unique council independence and financial stability.”
As a result of the meeting, along with service cuts and reductions, council will review the organisation’s staff structure, seek debt financing of $10 million for fire safety works at Blue Haven Terralong, investigate market opportunities for council-owned sites and implement a council waste services review.
Cr Larkins presented a number of amendments, including consideration that some of the proposed changes be temporary not permanent.
He put forward that during the consultation period, occupiers of council-owned facilities anticipated to be impacted are given the opportunity to engage directly with council and submit business proposals for future use of the sites. He also moved that council should work with the State and Federal governments to consider alternative funding options so that the reduced or cancelled services could be reinvested in at a later time.
His other amendments included pausing funding for councillors to attend conferences and to decline applying the annual mayor and councillor allowance increase for the 2026/27 period.
Cr Larkins successfully argued that council should advocate to the NSW Government for reforms to the local government rates and charges structures including consideration of rates related to short term rental accommodation.
With the majority in favour, the motion with the amendment passed.
An asset condition report for Blue Haven Terralong Street revealed the site would require more than $50 million in works over the next decade to bring the facility from a “poor” condition to a “fair”‘ condition.
Councillor Melinda Lawton called for an independent peer review of the condition report, which would likely be an additional cost in the upcoming budget that councillors are trying to reduce.
“It’s not minimising the seriousness of the asset condition report, it’s not rejecting the findings and it’s not to delay necessary action,” Cr Lawton said.
Councillors also voted to task CEO Jane Stroud with exploring options for the retirement village.
Mayor Cameron McDonald and councillor Matt Brown did not attend or vote in the extraordinary meeting.
Discussions will now begin with union delegates and stakeholders, with a draft budget to be completed by council staff by the end of the week. It will then be put on public exhibition for further feedback for 28 days.
