[Dallas McConnell]

Hey Trev,
Wollongong will buck the trend here (but i dont agree with it).
Our NAR team will update a rate notice based on a marriage certificate or change of name, if im asked i always respond that our rate records need to match whats held on title and refer them to update with titles office and LRS etc, but thats not our Council position.
Due to how risk adverse in the privacy space we are now, we dont even keep a copy of the marriage certificate or death certificate in the case of changing someone to estate of the late. The customer service officer cites the certificate and we action.
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Hi Glynes,
We at the gong looked at this option back in about 2017, but decided to not to proceed.
Mainly due to the above and costs not being oncharged.
I probably was a little concerned that was this an attempt by the state government to get into taking over rates at a local level and would they eventually want to do the whole end to end process of issue the notice to recovery.
I also had to think through how some of it would work from a practicality point of view, there was a part whereby people in hardship could participate in work orders and volunteering and could eventually pay their debt off that way. Whilst i agree we need alternatives for vulnerable people the fact that a debt could be satisfied without any payment of money was tough to reconcile (just my opinion not the council’s).

Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Team!

Appreciate the feedback, have circulated it internally.

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Dave

I think there are lots of things to consider.
How much of an administrative burden is to maintain…
Will it drive electronic registrations?
I dont think it makes it a charge to appear on the section 603 certificate, then do you write it off etc

I think Telstra charge $2.50 and my banking institution charges a $5 paper statement charge.

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Cherie,

Appreciate the response 🙂

Maybe more to the point do you do verbal applications. If you do, do you request a copy of the card. Once you run the verification, if there are two seperate entitlement dates, which date do you grant?

[Dallas McConnell]

We are charging 0.60% at Wollongong.
It changed last year from 0.50% to 0.60% after we did some analysis on the average transaction fees.

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Andrew,

Some interesting reading. Im especially keen to see what comes out of the first 2 recommendations.

Regards,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Hi Ashley,

I noticed the infinite loop ratepayers can be in with payment arrangements as well.

We follow a 3 strike process, so for example.
First payment missed, they get a phone call
Second payment missed, they get a letter
Third payment missed, the arrangement is cancelled.

This is supported by our debt recovery and hardship assistance policy that says a ratepayer can only get 2 arrangements in a 12 month period.

Hope this makes sense, otherwise happy for you give me a call or an email.

Regards,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Hey Guys,

Managing agents for us is such a mammoth task, at last count we have nearly 100 agents that manage in excess of 7000 properties in our LGA.

Currently we have a request that the agent has to complete the online form and upload a copy of the managing agent agreement, wondering how many of you enforce them to include the agreement as evidence? Or if an email suffices?

im of a mind to change to accept written authorisation from either owner or agent to simplify things for two reasons:
1) we are getting pushback by agents on submitting the agency agreement due to privacy reasons
2) reduce the time it takes to verify details and speed up processing, given the sheer volume we process.

Regards,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Hi Lyndal,

We run a verification on 30 June, and then we run another (this year was 8 August) and then claimed all pensioners eligible as at 8 August, this is the data we prepared our claim for.

Regards,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

No troubles,

I did register for the one on the 18th, but assume something will come through soon.

thanks!

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Andrew,

Two months is not a long time to get this done, from memory we had a project officer on a 6-12 month contract to categorise our land previously, we will have 7 years of land data to categorise along with checks of the previous data to ensure its still valid.

Regards,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Andrew,

I dont seem to have access to the ESF reform website.

this is the error i receive
That didn’t work
We’re sorry, but dmcconnell@wollongong.nsw.gov.au can’t be found in the nswgov.sharepoint.com directory. Please try again later, while we try to automatically fix this for you.

[Dallas McConnell]

Thanks Rebecca and Andrew,

Good points raised. I think as well it would help NAR, as it would be additional information to determine who someone is when buying property from a name perspective. Dont get me started on date of births.

its all information the conveyancer has, phone numbers, email address etc.

We have had some luck contacting the conveyancer prior to commencing legal action on new purchases, but its time and labour intensive.

Cheers,
Dallas

[Dallas McConnell]

Hi Team,

Any update on this one?

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