COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Committee

At the 30 March 2020 Special Council Meeting (Agenda and Minutes available here) Council approved the establishment of a COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Committee. The key role of the Committee is to provide oversight of the City's COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Strategy and provide advice to Council on actions under the strategy. The Committee will enable swift decision making in respect to the City's COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts. This Committee will meet every Tuesday at 5pm for the next 6 months, or as advised.

The Committee comprises of 3 members - Mayor Emma Cole, Cr Gontaszewski and Cr Castle, with all remaining Elected Members deputy members. The meetings are open to the public. The Meetings are held electronically, as webinars, and are recorded and available to the public after the meeting. Webinar login details and the recordings are available here: http://webcast.vincent.wa.gov.au/

The public can attend the meeting via the City's website. The public can submit questions or statements to the Committee in relation to items on the agenda, and the questions / statements will be addressed during public question time. To submit a question or statement please email to governance@vincent.wa.gov.au by 3pm on the meeting day. The public can also speak during public question time. You will need to register to speak by emailing governance@vincent.wa.gov.au by 3pm pm the meeting day. Please include your name and suburb and the item you are speaking on in the email.

If you have any queries about the Committee please contact the City's Executive Manager Corporate Strategy and Governance on 9273 6000 or email governance@vincent.wa.gov.au

Resources

Terms of Reference

View meeting dates, agendas, minutes & recordings

COVID-19 RElief & recovery Committee MEMBERS

STAFf (Non Voting)

Mayor Emma Cole (Chair)

Cr Gontaszewski (Deputy Chair)

Cr Castle

CEO

Executive Directors

Rent Abatement & Relief For City Tenants

The State and Federal Government’s COVID-19 social distancing measures, which include restrictions on public gatherings and business trading have affected many community groups, sporting clubs and commercial businesses operating from City owned or managed premises (City Premises).

At its 21 April 2020 Meeting, the COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Committee approved a minimum level of assistance to be granted to tenants of City Premises (Tenants). The level of assistance provided to a Tenant is subject to the classification of the Tenant into one of three categories under the City’s draft Property Management Framework. The Tenant categories are as follows:

Category 1 – small community groups (not-for-profit organisations, community groups or clubs run solely by volunteers);
Category 2 – sporting clubs, community groups and organisations (not-for-profit organisations, community groups or clubs run by volunteers or paid employees);
Category 3 – commercial entities, State and National clubs, associations and community organisations (includes corporations, incorporated associations, large not-for-profit organisations and private business owners).

Details of which tenants are in each category are available here.

Financial assistance for Category 1 and 2 Tenants:

all outstanding Tenant debts and interest accruing on those debts are placed on hold until 30 September 2020;
a 6 month rent waiver period from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 applies to Category 1 and 2 Tenant leases;
unless otherwise agreed by the City, Category 1 Tenants will be required to pay the annual Emergency Services Levy and building insurance premiums during the rent waiver period, but payment will be deferred until after 30 September 2020;
unless otherwise agreed by the City, Category 2 Tenants will be required to continue to pay utilities, rubbish and recycling bin charges, Emergency Services Levy, building insurance premiums and any essential maintenance costs that are the responsibility of the Tenant during the rent waiver period;
Category 1 and 2 tenants will not be required to apply for the assistance set out in (a) to (c) above;
Category 1 Tenants requiring a waiver of the requirement to pay annual Emergency Services Levy and building insurance premiums (for 2020/2021), must apply for additional assistance; and
Category 2 tenants requiring a waiver or deferral of the requirement to pay costs set out in (d) above, must apply for additional assistance.

The application form for financial assistance can be located here. These applications will require evidence of loss of business/trade by the Tenant and that these costs are not covered by Tenant insurance.

Financial assistance for Category 3 Tenants:

all outstanding Tenant debts and interest accruing on those debts are placed on hold until 30 September 2020;
any deferral or waiver on rent payments for Category 3 Tenants will be considered on a case-by-case basis for Tenants that can demonstrate their business, association or club has experienced a minimum 50% downturn in trade or revenue raising as a result of COVID-19;
unless otherwise agreed by the City:
all other charges including any variable outgoings, utilities, rates and taxes, rubbish and recycling bin charges, Emergency Services Levy, building insurance premiums and any essential maintenance costs that are the Tenant’s responsibility will remain payable by the Tenant during the rent waiver or deferral period; and
a repayment plan of a minimum term of 24 months for deferred rent and outstanding debts will be agreed between each Tenant and the City (where applicable, taking into account the remaining lease term);
Category 3 Tenants must apply for financial assistance (as set out above) by submitting an application form and accompanying documents to the City for consideration.

The application form for financial assistance can be located here. These applications will require evidence of loss of business/trade by the Tenant and that these costs are not covered by Tenant insurance.

Complete applications can be submitted to: mail@vincent.wa.gov.au