Melton councillors have abandoned moves to recover $54,000 worth of childcare reimbursements claimed by Cr Kathy Madjlik, finding all expenses were “above board”.
Cr Lara Carli led a charge to recover the money claimed by Kathy Madjlik over the past six years and a $140 claim by Cr Renata Cugliari, which did not include a ‘statement by supplier’ form outlining why an Australian business number (ABN) was missing.
Council chief executive Kel Tori said the claims, for the years 2008 until 2014, were not “fraudulent” and any missing information was due to an “administration oversight”.
“There have been no reimbursements made to a councillor that is not in accordance with the intent of the policy or legislation,” Mr Tori said.
“There’s been no fraudulent claims and the childcare that’s been reimbursed has occurred.”
Councillors Madjlik and Cugliari said they had followed the correct council processes.
“This was purely an administrative oversight. The mayor and CEO of the day approved and authorised all the childcare expenses,” Cr Madjlik said.
“It was an administrative error; there is a process that I followed,” Cr Cugliari said. “It is then checked and authorised by the relevant officers and mayor at the time.”
But Cr Carli said it was her duty as a councillor to be “transparent, accountable and responsible” about the ratepayers’ money.
She requested that council recover the claims which she says are “unaccounted for” and add it to the disability services’ budget. Cr Madjlik has a child with disabilities.
“We should never forget that this is the ratepayers’ money and they’ve trusted us with it,” Cr Carli said.
“By the council’s own admission, there has been an administration oversight. This being the case, as councillors, we have the responsibility to recover the money.”
Councillors Sophie Ramsey, Bob Turner and Nola Dunn defended councillors Madjlik and Cugliari’s claims.
“The bottom line is there is no money that’s been reimbursed that isn’t a legitimate claim,” Cr Turner said.
“The claims have been substantiated with receipts and everything’s been cross-referenced with their diaries.
“As a council, we don’t feel there was a breach.”
Cr Ramsey said the statement by supplier forms were the responsibility of suppliers to provide.
“I believe the absence of a statement by supplier is a minor administrative oversight,” Cr Ramsey said. “[It] is essentially an irrelevant component of the procedure for lodging a claim.
“There is no evidence to suggest that there has been any fraud or impropriety in the claiming of child care expenses,” Cr Ramsey said.
