COUNCILLORS have baulked at a proposal to hike the rent at four local surf life saving clubs.
Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) hopes its new model, which would see it quarantine the rent to provide proactive maintenance like painting and roof repairs, could be the solution to inconsistencies with surf club management across the state.
But, Cr Jason Pauling pushed the decision back this week, concerned ratepayers weren't getting the best deal.
"On one side there's council's predisposition to want to help the surf life saving clubs and treat it like the charity it is, versus extracting appropriate value from our assets while balancing that with our ongoing financial sustainability," he said.
"If at some point in the future we had to go back to ratepayers for a special rate variation for whatever reason, part of the contribution to that decision, whether it's in five or 10 years time starts tonight with our decision to subsidise these entities.
"If we treat surf life saving clubs as an emergency service, come on state and federal [governments], time to divvy up, but we're the ones carrying the can here and I don't know that's quite right."
Redhead, Catherine Hill Bay, Swansea-Belmont and Caves Beach clubs have been on peppercorn rent for years.
The clubs pay between $100 and $3000 per year, which would hike to $1000 to $15,000 under a 21-year lease or a portion of their revenue - whichever is higher.
Hunter Surf Life Saving has negotiated for the clubs, and finance and governance director John Waghorn argues a 100 to 150 per cent increase is too high.
"There is no other community organisation within the ... area that provides this level of service," he said.
"We are often 'called-out' at short notice to aquatic emergencies, not only in our specific area of operation, but to other locations. In this way as lifesaving entities, we are far more than an average community group or facility operator.
"We do all of the above free of charge for LMCC and its constituents, supported by the funds that we raise through our fundraising and commercial activities."
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