By JO HARRISON
COUNCILLORS have voted against a proposed 2.5 per cent increase to their renumeration representing Armidale Dumaresq ratepayers in the coming financial year.
The motion to increase the fee was lost during last week’s ordinary council meeting five votes to four. Armidale Dumaresq Deputy Mayor Herman Beyersdorf voted for a rate increase along with councillors Gadd, O’Connor and Richardson.
Cr Beyersdrof said that the small rate increase of 2.5 percent represented a very small increase similar to a standard CPI increase that occurs from year to year.
“I was one of the four councilors who voted in favour of a modest pay increase,” Mr Beyersdorf said.
“I think it was well-meaning by the councillors to vote against it, however I feel it is a bit of grand-standing because we are talking about very small sums of money.
“If you do this for two or three years in a row like the two years that we have voted against it here, it starts to mount up,” he said.
“And in a couple of years time somebody says we are say 13 per cent behind Tamworth and let’s go for a 20 or 30 per cent pay increase the community would say we are greedy so and sos! When really we are only catching up!
“It’s just a natural thing as inflation and cost of living increases each year that we should have small increase similar to how peoples’ wages go up.”
Cr Beyersdorf stressed that the decision wasn’t a ‘big deal’ but he felt it was a bit narrow-minded.
He said that, on average, an Armidale Dumaresq councillor works around 20 hours a week on council business and receives approximately $15,500 per annum.
Cr Beyersdorf said that if the proposed increase had been passed by council it would have represented only a couple of hundred dollars a year.
The mayor has a separate allowance of approximately $33,000 per annum which is considerable more due to his increased workload.
