RATEPAYERS in the City of Maribyrnong have been forced to foot an $80,000 bill for last year’s Stony Creek Ward byelection - a cost of $21.75 for every formal ballot cast.

The details of the cost were contained in the council’s quarterly finance report, which covers the three months to the end of March 2008.

It shows $80,000 was spent on byelection expenses, and the council has confirmed those costs relate exclusively to the election that was called after then councillor Joseph Cutri quit.

Victorian Electoral Commission data shows that of the 6542 people enrolled in the ward, which covers Braybrook and Tottenham, only 62 per cent turned out to vote at the 10 November election. And of those who did show up, almost 10 per cent cast an informal ballot.

Cr Sel Sanli was elected to replace Mr Cutri, who at the time said he had resigned to spend more time with his family.

Mr Cutri had been on the council for a decade and when he resigned, his wife had been expecting twins. “My wife needs my help and support now, and trying to balance the needs of my family, my full-time job, the concerns of my residents and council business just isn’t going to work,” he said in a statement released last August.

Melanie Fleer, the council’s manager of governance and community relations, said the cost of the by-election was in part due to the fact it was an attendance rather than a postal poll.

“Council appointed the VEC to conduct the by-election, and this was the amount the VEC charged,” she said

“Many of the overhead costs for an election, such as setting up an office for the returning officer and local advertising, is the same for an election or a by-election. This is why a by-election tends to cost more (per capita) than a municipal-wide election.”

The council has opted to conduct November’s general election by postal ballot for the first time. A council meeting was told a postal ballot across the council’s seven wards would cost just under $200,000, and an attendance vote, for which voters had to physically turn out at a polling booth on the day, would cost $65,000 more.