These fees (attached below) are on display for public comment for the next 3 weeks, until close of business Thursday 7 June 2012.
You are encouraged to review the new proposed fees for your hall and if you have any comment on them, to contact Council by:
Mail:
General Manager
Great Lakes Council
PO Box 450
FORSTER NSW 2428
Or by Email:
Council@greatlakes.nsw.gov.au – with 2012/13 Halls Fees and Charges in the Subject line.
Dianne Denton
Business Support Officer
Great Lakes Council Community Services
‘We pay our rates. Why should we have to pay to use the community hall as well?’
‘We are a not-for profit group, we shouldn’t have to pay, or we should get a discount’
‘Our constitution does not permit us to fundraise; all of our income goes towards overseas charities’
Dear Community Member
One of the questions that is often asked of our Council staff is whether community groups can have free hire of community facilities; given that the meeting or event was for community purposes.
Let me explain our situation;
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The fees charged for our public halls are not full cost recovery.
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The hall hire rates do recognise the community benefit that comes from there being a range of local activities at the public hall, thus the hire rates are set way below the actual running costs of the facilities.
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On average, each public hall costs some $10,000 per year to run - before building and grounds maintenance costs are calculated. This $10,000 covers costs including Council rates (yes, Council charges itself rates on its own buildings too), water, waste and sewerage charges, electricity charges, public liability, building and contents insurance, pest, fire and exit lights inspections, licensing fees etc. And then there is the costs of building and grounds maintenance!
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For reasons of fairness, all hall users pay a standard fee based on either the period of use or type of event. The only exception to this is that Council does not charge a hire fee for public meetings and consultations that are being run by GLC.
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Political or religious groups are charged a hire fee for public meetings.
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The hall hire fees go directly towards the replacement of chairs, tables, fridges, stoves, etc when the current equipment gets old or fails.
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By far the largest group of hirers of our public hall facilities are instruction classes; Tai Kwon Do, Ballet, Dance, etc. These are generally being run as businesses rather than as hobbies, and whilst there are complaints about the hire rates, these fees are passed on to the hirers customers.
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Many community groups complain about having to pay a fee, given that they are not for profit. However, generally if the hall hire is divided by the number of people in attendance at the event, this comes down to an amount that is no more than a gold coin donation per person.
I wish that it were possible for Council to further subsidise the running of the large number of public halls that we are responsible for. I would genuinely rather see each facility used multiple times each week at minimal costs, than sitting idle, so that the buildings can regain some of the relevance to their communities that they used to have some 20 or 30 years ago.
Sadly however, many of the halls, particularly in outlying areas are in fact, hardly used at all these days. And Councils outlay of some $10,000+ per annum is balanced by only some $2,000 income. Multiply this figure over some 28 halls, and there is a ‘gap’ each year of some $280,000 per year in running costs. This is why there is pressure to increase hire fees by at least the CPI each year, in order to try and keep pace with annual increases in electricity, water and insurance costs.
I hope that you will be able to pass this information on to the people at the public meeting. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like further information.
Yours Faithfully,
Andrew Braybrook
Manager of Community Services
Great Lakes Council
Telephone 65917255
e-mail andrew.braybrook@greatlakes.nsw.gov.au
