Council approves $12,000 purchase of nine new iPads

The nine iPad Pros are expected to cost about $12,000 and will be funded from the City’s electronic equipment reserve.

Vincent councillors, the chief executive and directors have been using the devices for council meeting agendas and minutes since 2012.

After the 2013 local government elections, the newly elected councillors purchased their own tablets and with three new councillors at Vincent after this year’s election, the council approved new iPads for all council members.

Under the Local Government Act, the maximum annual allowance for councillor’s information and communication technology (ICT) is $3500.

That amount includes their personal internet connection and phone calls.

Cr Joshua Topelberg said he would like to see a review of the ICT allowance.

Mayor John Carey agreed and said his phone bills for the past year alone cost $2500.

According to a council report, the newly released iPad model was chosen because of performance improvements and bigger screen size that was useful for viewing council documents.

Chief executive Len Kosova said all council expenditure on technology appeared in council items under the ICT allowance.