Spencer criticised the absence of agreed plans to spend the money across the state government and the City of Perth,which she said “contributed to a significant increase in the levy account balance from $54 million to $192 million over the past five years”.
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“The account balance will continue to increase by about $30 million a year without new spending commitments or a reduction in the levy,” Spencer said.
She also criticised the Department of Transport for its lack of consultation with the City of Perth on how the fund was spent,which backed comments City of Perth mayor Basil Zempilas made earlier this week.
Zempilas said the report “vindicated” the city’s arguments and he had reached out to Premier Mark McGowan to voice his concerns and call for the money to be spent on a redevelopment of the Perth train station.
“This report has demonstrated there’s been no plan to spend money,no accountability on how it will be spent,and no consultation with the City of Perth on behalf of those ratepayers,” he said.
“We’re talking about public monies here and the Auditor General,in her words,has said the administration of these public monies has not been up to scratch. That is a concern for everybody.”
Zempilas said the WACA pool money was “of concern and irregular”.
“The idea that some of the money could be allocated to the WACA aquatic development,when we know that is not in the rules,raises lots and lots of questions,” he said.
Saffioti admitted she first asked whether the levy fund could be used in the pool project and the McGowan cabinet endorsed a conditional approval.
She said given the city had voiced its intention to not pay for the ongoing operations of the pool,the levy fund was an option to consider.
“The advice was we can’t[spend the levy money on the pool],but the cabinet endorsed a position where in the future if the act is changed,we will look at setting some money aside,” she said.
“The reality is,these types of assets all are all about bringing life and vitality to the city whether it’s schools,whether it’s the concert hall,whether it’s some swimming pools. All this infrastructure is about boosting livability and more people into the city.
“We know that the City of Perth doesn’t want to run the WACA pool so I suppose the question is,who should run it? Do we want taxpayers from Geraldton,for example,paying for the maintenance of that pool? I think the answer to that would be no.”
Asked whether the government would consider taking the full capital funding and maintenance costs for the pool project,Saffioti said that would be discussed during the drafting of the new levy laws as well as other projects such as a CAT bus to Subiaco.
“This will all be subject to the consultation ... we may determine,for example,a new primary school could be a new source for the funds,” she said.
Saffioti said she had spoken to the department’s director general Peter Woronzow about how to improve the levy administration,but she stood by the reforms announced this week.
The future of the levy has pitted Zempilas and Saffioti against each other,with the lord mayor accusing the state government of treating the city with contempt for its lack of consultation on the new laws.
Saffioti hit back at Zempilas on Wednesday,describing his arguments as “all over the place”.
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