No communication led to rate bungle

CASEY acting chief executive Steve Dalton has shed some light on the council bungle that saw ratepayers overcharged on their 2006-07 rates.
Mr Dalton has confirmed that a communication breakdown led to the error.
His statement differed from comments made by Casey mayor Kevin Bradford, printed in last week’s News, that stated that the mistake was the result of a calculation error.
Mr Dalton said a review in relation to the incorrect rate in the dollar being applied to the 2006-07 rates notices had been held.
It found that a late change in the amount to be charged had not been keyed in to the computer system.
In a report to the mayor, Mr Dalton said the same process has been used in determining the rates and charges that are shown on the rates notices for the past 20 years.
He stressed that this was the first time an error of this kind has occurred with the calculation of the rates, with the 2006-07 notice overstating each rate notice by an average of $10.
“The process has entailed first of all obtaining the adopted rate in the dollar from the council meeting and then inputting this figure into the software that calculates the amount of rates to be charged against each property,” Mr Dalton said.
“This figure has then been rechecked to ensure its accuracy.
“This same process was adopted for the 2006-07 rates notice but when the council considered the 2006-07 budget, a late change was made and a lesser rate was adopted.
“This lesser rate was not used in establishing the rates to be paid but the original higher rate in the dollar that appeared on the council agenda was the rate input into the software to calculate the rates to be paid.”
Mr Dalton said the identified weakness in the process was that there had not been an independent check of the rate in the dollar before being entered into the software that calculated the rates to be paid.
He said that in future, there would be an independent check and sign off of the rate in the dollar to ensure that it reflected the council’s decision and what was in the council’s minutes.
Mr Dalton said that after discovery of the error from an internal review, the Property, Rates and Valuations Department took immediate action to rectify the situation.
“Within two weeks officers reconfigured the software in order to generate more than 80,000 letters with the correct amount payable by each ratepayer, arranged for collation of the letters by an external mail-house, then distribution via Australia Post,” Mr Dalton said.
Mr Dalton said that by the end of August six per cent of rates had been collected.
“The error, therefore, does not adversely impact on 94 per cent of ratepayers as they had not yet paid their rates and the correct amounts have been shown on the letters that were distributed to ratepayers last week.”
Mr Dalton said inquiries to the call centre revealed that about six per cent of those who had paid had asked for a refund rather than have the amount credited to their account next year.