COUNCILLOR James von Drehnen was speechless after seeing council’s quarterly budget review for the Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre (MAAC).
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Cr von Drehnen asked for clarity at Thursday’s council meeting as to why $204,210 had been additionally spent just for the MAAC, after a combined $557,990 had been spent for Mungindi, Boomi and the Moree pools.
“I want the general manager to tell me how we can get this far in the red. Who is calling the shots here? Is it the MAAC board? Because this is not on,” he said.
David Aber, said he understood that it was a shock to councillors and there would be a detailed report put together to explain what had happened.
“We ran into some unbudgeted legal expenses with the legal act regarding the MAAC staff. I have a strong belief that the original budget income estimates were also not met and it cost a fair bit to sign over the pool to the MAAC board,” Mr Aber said.
Cr von Drehnen said he was concerned about how long it had taken for the MAAC board to take over and asked why there was not a structured board already in place.
Mayor Katrina Humphries said the MAAC board had faced massive issues since the changeover in September noting it was “a dog’s breakfast”.
“The board has no policies in place, no budget nor has the board signed anything from council about their responsibilities,” she said.
Cr von Drehnen said he wanted a detailed report to council regarding the MAAC’s finances and for it to explain what went wrong and whose fault it was.
“Don’t blame the budget. The budget didn’t spend the money. If the MAAC needed more money it should have come to council first. This is just not good enough,” he said.
Cr Humphries said the council was too optimistic to think a new business would turn over the profit estimated and that was where things went wrong.
“The MAAC board has also been starved on information,” she said.
Councillor, Sue Price, ended the discussion by admitting the overall budget review was not as good as councillors had hoped.
“It is important we identify significant savings in every section of council to pull us through this financial year successfully. I do believe we can do it, and it is better to know now then at the end of the financial year,” she said.
