Despite criticism it was 'too little too late', city council elected members last night supported a move to give the city’s small and micro business owners another month to apply for up to 50 per cent rate reimbursements if their business had been affected by coronavirus restrictions.

North ward councillor Mary Couros – who co-owns several North Adelaide hospitality ventures – said her motion to extend the Adelaide City Council’s City Business Saver Grant program to the end of April came after multiple businesses told her they were “suffering” under the weight of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Businesses have been suffering for a good part of the [past] two years, and a lot of it has to do with one thing called COVID,” councillor Couros told elected members at the virtual meeting last night.

“They have been shut down and haven’t been able to operate to the full capacity that they have been able to in the past.

“It’s been very sad.”

Couros’ motion, which was carried with unanimous support, allows businesses to apply for the grant until 30 April 2022, extending the March cut-off, and also requires the council to tweak the grant program’s eligibility criteria so that businesses with 0—20 employees (including businesses where the owner is the only staff member) can participate.

Successful businesses must prove a 30 per cent loss in revenue across three periods: 27 December 2021—9 January 2022; 10 January 2022—30 January 2022; and 1 February 2022—28 February 2022.

The business must also occupy a non-residential property and contribute up to $15,000 in annual council rates.

Under the scheme, successful recipients will receive a cash reimbursement equivalent to half of their rates in the third quarter of the 2021-2022 financial year.

The City Business Saver Grant program was unveiled in January this year as part of the Adelaide City Council’s $8.8 million Reignite Adelaide program.

The program was designed to help the city’s businesses recover from strict coronavirus trading conditions and attract people to the city.

Reignite Adelaide included $180,000 being allocated to the live music sector under the banner of ‘Friday Night Live’ and free on-street and UPark parking on weeknights and weekends during the festival season.

City of Adelaide CEO Clare Mockler said 640 payments, totalling approximately $400,000, had been given to eligible businesses since the small business grant program launched.

“This will be reported through the next quarterly consideration in terms of the total quantum,” Mockler told the virtual chamber.

The administration was “unsure” what the total dollar amount would be, she said.

Although the motion was carried with unanimous support, north ward councillor and lord mayoral contender Phil Martin said extending the lifeline would be “too late for many”.

“On my way into council for this meeting this evening, I passed three shops that were there last week – two of which are gone now and the other which is close to going with a sign up saying ‘closing down; 50 per cent off everything’,” he said.

“The owner was understandably distressed and this isn’t going to help. What would have helped, of course, was if council had not rejected requests from councillor [Anne] Moran and others in 2020 and in 2021 for some kind of cash payment or a rate rebate or similar.

“Though it’s too late, it will help some people.”

Area councillor Franz Knoll – owner of meat stall Barossa Fine Foods and seafood business Angelakis Bros – helped engineer the motion.

But he said the financial contribution would not be enough to save a “reasonable number” of businesses.

“Simply because their problems are a lot worse, and the rent and all those things contribute greatly of course,” he said.

“With no customers, there is no hope.

“We can only now hope to help bring people back, and this is a way to at least assist some in a way to get them through this time, while we’re working on trying to bring them more customers and make the city more vibrant again.”

Veteran councillor Anne Moran said she had spoken to a number of small businesses claiming to be on a “knife’s edge” and elected members should have done more to help them.

“It’s too late for the very small, vulnerable businesses,” she said.

“For councillor Knoll to say this wouldn’t have helped anything – why would it help now?

“We should have done a lot more.”

Deputy Lord Mayor Arman Abrahimzadeh said prior motions from other councillors offering rate rebates were not as effectively targeted as Couros’s.

“To sit here and squabble about who voted for what and what would have saved them is not the right thing to do,” Couros said at the end of the meeting.

“The right thing to do is actually give positive messages to those people that are suffering out there right now, and that need people to come into their store, into the restaurant, into their café and support them wholeheartedly.”

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