2018-12-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              11 DECEMBER 2018


Officer’s Recommendation
As the station demonstrably cannot afford a lease payment of $34,340, and letting commercial
space at The J is impact assessable, management propose that Council extinguish the current
lease and replace it with a new 2-year lease with the option of three further 1-year terms at
Council’s discretion.

Having considered Noosa FM’s financial position, management further propose a rental rate of
$10,500 p.a. for the new lease, which is the equivalent of an 80% rental subsidy.

Previous Council Consideration
Nil.

Finance
In real terms, Council has previously provided a rental subsidy of $46,000 p.a. to Noosa FM
($52,000 commercial value of the site less the $6,000 annual payments received through to 2017).
In addition, Council also provides a little over $7,500 p.a. to Noosa FM via a 3-year Community
Alliance grant. The resultant outcome under this scenario is that Council provides total cash and
in-kind support to Noosa FM to the value of $53,500 p.a.

This is a significant level of financial support which should be weighed against the level of
community benefit provided by Noosa FM. It is therefore recommended that Council consider its
position of providing both a rental subsidy and a community alliance grant to Noosa FM in future
years.

It should also be noted that the original rental budget at The J for 2018/19 was set at $34,000. This
has since been revised down to $18,000 as part of the BR2 process. Any further rent reductions
will require additional budget adjustments and will have a flow on impact to the broader Council
budget position.

Risks & Opportunities
As it currently stands, Noosa FM are in breach of their lease terms and this presents an operational
risk to Council. The risk of enforcing the terms of the lease is that the community may perceive that
Council has operated too harshly in its treatment of a community organisation.

There is however an opportunity to improve Council’s financial position by either enforcing the
lease or rehousing Noosa FM and renting the current space at a commercial rate to a different
party.

Consultation
External Consultation - Community & Stakeholder
Noosa FM Committee.

Internal Consultation




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