{"id":52640,"date":"2026-07-17T10:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T10:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/52640\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T10:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T10:30:49","slug":"adelaide-hills-council-cuts-rate-rise-after-axing-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/52640\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelaide Hills Council cuts rate rise after axing CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Days after axing its CEO, Adelaide Hills Council has vowed to cancel a previously proposed rate rise following community backlash.<\/p>\n

The rate plan now reflects an increase of 6.8 per cent \u2013 down from the proposed 7.6 per cent which went to consultation last month.<\/p>\n

Mayor Nathan Daniell said the final Annual Business Plan reflected the \u201ccommunity\u2019s priorities\u201d, as well as council\u2019s \u201ccommitment to long-term financial sustainability\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis budget strikes a balance between protecting what makes the Adelaide Hills special and managing council\u2019s finances responsibly to ensure we can return to surplus in coming years,\u201d Mr Daniell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to the residents who took the time to provide feedback during consultation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have listened to that feedback and reduced the proposed rate increase while maintaining funding for key projects, essential services and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council\u2019s business plan forecasts a $68m income with an expenditure of $71.1m \u2013 a proposed $3.1m operating deficit.<\/p>\n

It comes after, just last week, council parted ways with its chief executive <\/a>Greg Georgopoulos after a closed doors special council meeting.<\/p>\n

Mr Georgopoulos had been in the role since July 2023, having previously spent five years as chief executive of the Kangaroo Island Council and having held local government roles at Prospect and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the council said at the special meeting \u201ccouncil determined to conclude its employment relationship\u201d with Mr Georgopoulos.<\/p>\n

Mr Georgopoulos told The Advertiser he had begun legal action against Adelaide Hills Council over his exit, but due to legal advice could not provide specific details.<\/p>\n

Mr Georgopoulos\u2019 tenure as chief executive coincided with a turbulent period for the Adelaide Hills Council.<\/p>\n

Former Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom quit<\/a> in September 2025, nine months after the council voted for her to apologise and resign after an investigation found she breached behavioural standards, bullied staff and misled the council over her use of a policy to obtain her own legal advice \u2013 allegations she consistently denied.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the council lost nearly a quarter of its staff<\/a>, alongside a massive spike in the council\u2019s legal fees, which reached more than a quarter of a million dollars that financial year.<\/p>\n

Adelaide Hills Council director of environment and infrastructure Jade Ballantine has been appointed as acting chief executive, effective from last Thursday.<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s statement said a \u201ccomprehensive search\u201d for a new chief executive would begin soon, as part of a \u201crefreshed strategic vision for the Adelaide Hills Council region\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days after axing its CEO, Adelaide Hills Council has vowed to cancel a previously proposed rate rise following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[39335,39314,39304,39302,39366,39371,39325,17327,39331,39365,39319,39367,39355,39330,39332,39317,39305,39315,39321,39326,39369,37726,39349,395,39301,39334,39347,37232,39362,8523,36917,5721,3132,565,39320,39352,39313,31890,39370,3352,3115,39338,10167,39188,39312,38281,3139,39368,39356,39373,1213,39329,39354,39306,39364,39357,39340,39353,39307,39363,39374,37392,32587,39337,39361,39359,39339,39336,39372,39333,39342,3121,39358,39323,6499,28811,39360,39328,39327,39348,7738,39303,6019,39344,39316,39308,39345,39310,38255,36676,37538,38322,39309,39341,39351,39343,39322,39350,39311,39346,36556,39324,39318],"class_list":["post-52640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-adelaide","tag-s-commitment","tag-s-business-plan","tag-s-finances","tag-s-legal-fees","tag-s-priorities","tag-s-statement","tag-71-1m","tag-17327","tag-6-8","tag-a-comprehensive-search","tag-a-refreshed-strategic-vision","tag-a-68m-income","tag-a-balance","tag-a-closed-doors","tag-a-controversial-proposal","tag-a-massive-spike","tag-a-million-dollars","tag-a-new-chief-executive","tag-a-policy","tag-a-previously-proposed-rate-rise","tag-a-proposed-3-1m-operating-deficit-it","tag-a-statement","tag-a-turbulent-period","tag-adelaide","tag-adelaide-hills-council","tag-an-expenditure","tag-an-increase","tag-an-investigation","tag-behavioural-standards","tag-bins","tag-cent","tag-ceo","tag-change","tag-chief-executive","tag-chief-executive-greg-georgopoulos","tag-coming-years","tag-community-backlash","tag-consultation","tag-controversial-proposal","tag-council","tag-days","tag-environment-and-infrastructure","tag-essential-services","tag-feedback","tag-financial-year-adelaide-hills-council-director","tag-five-years","tag-funding","tag-her-own-legal-advice-allegations","tag-her-use","tag-his-exit","tag-infrastructure","tag-its-ceo","tag-its-chief-executive","tag-its-chief-executive-greg-georgopoulos","tag-its-employment-relationship","tag-its-staff","tag-jade-ballantine","tag-july-2023","tag-key-projects","tag-last-month-mayor-nathan-daniell","tag-last-thursday-the-council","tag-last-week","tag-legal-action","tag-legal-advice","tag-local-government-roles","tag-long-term-financial-sustainability","tag-more-than-a-quarter","tag-mr-daniell","tag-mr-georgopoulos-mr-georgopoulos","tag-nearly-a-quarter","tag-nine-months","tag-part","tag-parting-ways","tag-port-adelaide-enfield-in","tag-prospect","tag-rate","tag-rate-rise-days","tag-september-2025","tag-special-council-meeting-mr-georgopoulos","tag-specific-details-mr-georgopoulos","tag-staff","tag-subscription-box-version-2in","tag-surplus","tag-tenure","tag-that-feedback","tag-the-adelaide-hills-council-region","tag-the-adelaide-hills-council-former-mayor-jan-claire-wisdom","tag-the-adelaide-hills-special","tag-the-advertiser","tag-the-city","tag-the-community","tag-the-council","tag-the-final-annual-business-plan","tag-the-kangaroo-island-council","tag-the-proposed-7-6","tag-the-proposed-rate-increase","tag-the-rate-plan","tag-the-residents","tag-the-role","tag-the-special-meeting","tag-the-time","tag-this-budget","tag-ways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}