City of Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, has come under scrutiny by the council watchdog.

He has been penalised for charging ratepayers for two Gold Coast Titans Football Club memberships over five years ago. 

The Queensland council watchdog's investigation into misconduct complaints found that Cr Tate had engaged in misconduct regarding expense claims but did not find evidence of dishonesty.

The Councillor Conduct Tribunal has directed Tate to publicly admit to his misconduct and undergo expenses training. 

Additionally, the tribunal found that Tate had engaged in misconduct by requesting the City of Gold Coast to acquit thousands of dollars in donations.

The tribunal imposed a penalty of $2,322 on Cr Tate to ensure that the council was not financially impacted by his conduct concerning the purchase of audiovisual equipment and the two annual Gold Coast Titans NRL club memberships. 

This misconduct spanned over five separate instances relating to donation reimbursements between 2016 and 2018.

Cr Tate must make a public admission of misconduct during a council meeting within 60 days of the tribunal's findings. 

However, the tribunal clarified that Tate had not acted dishonestly or fraudulently but had operated under the mistaken belief that his actions were authorised by the council's expense policy. 

Consequently, he will be required to undergo training on the expenses and reimbursement policy for mayors and councillors.

Tate says he plans to appeal the tribunal's decision, with intentions to approach the Queensland Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal at the earliest opportunity.

Under the City of Gold Coast's expenses policy, the mayor is entitled to a $23,000 annual expense allowance. These expenses must be reasonable and related to the mayor's official duties.

One of the notable incidents involved Cr Tate's expenditure on Titans NRL club memberships, where he spent $72 in 2016 and $216 in 2017. 

He erroneously claimed these as “incidental expenses”, despite their personal nature. 

The tribunal questioned how membership to a local football club could be considered an expense incurred in his role as mayor.

Tate's misconduct also extended to donations, including a $1,000 donation to the Gold Coast Community Fund's White Christmas Appeal in 2016, a $5,000 donation to Christian radio station Juice 107.4 in 2017, and contributions to the Salvation Army Red Shield appeal in 2017 and 2018 totaling $10,000. 

All of these donations were later claimed as incidental expenses, breaching the council's expenses policy, which only allowed for an annual incidental expense of up to $500 for obligatory raffles or donations while attending an official event or function.

In addition, The Gold Coast mayor donated $5,000 to the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital in May 2016 and subsequently sought reimbursement as an “incidental expense”. 

He also purchased audiovisual cables worth $774 and headphones valued at $534.92, which the tribunal deemed unnecessary as his office was well-equipped. 

The tribunal characterised this behaviour as a breach of trust and a breach of the Local Government Act due to Mayor Tate seeking reimbursements beyond what was authorised by council policy.

However, allegations of misconduct related to the purchase of 10 seats for the Mayoress Charity Foundation Annual Ball in 2016 and 2017 were not substantiated by the tribunal.

Notably, the tribunal clarified that there were no allegations of fraud or dishonesty against Mayor Tate. 

Instead, it emphasised that his conduct breached the trust placed in him as a councillor and did not align with the principles of ethical and legal behaviour in local government.

A full summary of the findings is accessible in PDF form, here.