BY JESSICA ROUSE
It's been revealed the Hunter's "big five" councils are hoarding million of dollars of ratepayers money.
In the Property Council's latest audit of section 94 infrastructure levies, they discovered Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Cessnock are stashing millions of dollars earning interest and bettering their balance sheets.
The five councils collected $200 million in cash from developer contributions for infrastructure and raked in nearly $50 million worth of levies, only half of which was actually spent within the 2015-16 financial year.
Hunter Director of the Property Council Andrew Fletcher believes the council would rather make their balance sheets look good, rather than spend the money on infrastructure the community wants, needs and are calling out for.
"This is money which could be going towards things like cycleways and sporting grounds today and it's just plain wrong that councils are hoarding this cash and improving their balance sheets while they rob the community of these vital assets."
Lake Macquarie Council is sitting on top with the most unused funds, with a total of $97 million, followed a little further behind by Maitland Council who have nearly $58 million.
Newcastle Council is sitting on just over $17 million, Port Stephens have about $13.5 million and finally Cessnock Council with nearly $7 million.
"Often we hear from local government about their infrastructure backlogs and cost shifting and the like but the numbers don't lie and with over $4.4 million in interest alone earnt in the last 12 months, it really points to the fact that councils need to start spending this money and start providing some of that infrastructure the community wants, needs and are calling for," said Andrew Fletcher.
Andrew Fletcher says councils defended their position saying the funds needed to be held and used to repair ageing infrastructure, and that the money reflects the growth of the city and the significant increase in the development of new land parcels in recent years.
