Kiama councillors should avoid using "weasel words" around Blue Haven Bonaira's level of debt, Cr Matt Brown said.
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At Tuesday night's meeting he also noted that the independent living units at Blue Haven Terralong - which are not being sold - were also losing money.
Though Cr Kathy Rice responded by noting any Terralong loss may be a one-off and not a recurring issue.
The councillors were discussing a pair of reports requested by Cr Brown - one on the Bonaira finances and another on general Blue Haven funding.
The first report noted that the aged care centre was operating at an annualised loss of $3.35 million and that the construction project was $104.5 million, leaving the council with a shortfall of $21.3 million.
"It was a very expensive operation to build and it has been a very expensive operation to run," Cr Brown said.
"That's why we as councillors have decided to sell it because we cannot financially sustain a business in this council which is losing so much money continually.
"Blue Haven Bonaira is losing around $3.5 million a year and I think it's important that we'd be clear about that. Don't use a whole bunch of weasel words and trying to say it's this, that and everything else. It's losing around $3.5 million."
The other report stated that the Blue Haven Terralong facility accounts in December 2023 showed a loss of $110,000.
"I am concerned about this," Cr Brown said. "A lot of people have thought that Blue Haven Terralong was a cash cow but it is now losing money. If that figure's annualised it's going to be about a quarter of a million dollars we lose out of Terralong."
Cr Rice questioned the assumption that the monthly loss could be extrapolated across the year, noting another report in the council papers credited the shortfall to deferred maintenance work being carried out.
"That helps to explain why there is currently that deficit at Blue Haven Terralong," Cr Rice said.
"He can't assume that, from that $110,000 number, that it's going to continue to be the case month by month. It all depends on whether there is maintenance being spent at that level on an ongoing basis."
Both items were reports for information and no motions arose from them.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
