Annual Report 2014

STRATEGIC POLICY – COUNCILLORS’ EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENT POLICY


Definitions

To assist in interpretation the following definitions shall apply:

Council Business shall mean official business conducted on behalf of Council, where a Councillor
is required to undertake certain tasks to satisfy legislative requirements or achieve council
objectives, for example official Council meetings, Councillor forums and workshops,
Committees/Boards as Council’s official representative, scheduled meetings relating to Council
appointments.

Council Business should result in a benefit being achieved either for the local government and/or
the local community, for example, this includes but is not limited to:

   Preparing, attending and participating in Council meetings, Committee meetings, workshops,
    strategic briefings, deputations and inspections;
   Investigating issues/complaints regarding Council services raised by residents/ ratepayers/
    visitors to the Council area;
   Undertaking approved professional development opportunities;
   Attending civic functions or events;
   Attending public/community meetings, presentation dinners, annual general meetings where
    invited as a Councillor;
   Attending a community event (e.g. school fete, community group awards and presentations,
    fundraisers) where a formal invitation has been received.

Participating in a community group event or being a representative on a Board not associated with
Council is not regarded as Council business.

Councillors shall mean the Mayor and Councillors unless otherwise stated.

Expense shall mean payments made by Council to reimburse Councillors for their reasonable
expenses incurred or to be incurred when discharging their duties as Councillors. These payments
are not regarded as remuneration. The expenses may be either reimbursed to Councillors or paid
direct by Council for something that is deemed a necessary cost or charge when on Council
business.

Facility shall mean the ‘tools of trade’ provided by Council, required to enable Councillors to
perform their duties with relative ease and at a standard appropriate to fulfil their professional role
for the community.

Reasonable shall mean the application of sound judgement and consideration of what is prudent,
responsible and acceptable to the community when determining levels of facilities and expenditure.




Noosa Council                                                                               Page 2 of 7