State to make changes to way rate rises are considered

The State Government has released its response to one of its committee’s Inquiry into the Ability of Local Governments to fund Infrastructure and Services.

The government has proposed five key actions:

# The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) will continue to oversee council rates;

# Councils that want to permanently increase their rates will be required to submit a Comprehensive Spending Review to IPART that forensically examines their expenditure as well as their revenue;

# The Special Rate Variation process will be simplified and used solely by councils to fund specific projects or programs supported by the community;

# Local government financial statements and reporting will be streamlined to increase transparency and councillor and public oversight over council spending;

# Establishing an Expert Advisory Panel of experienced general managers, finance directors and other local government experts to support the government in delivering its reforms;

# The government said it will also audit local government fees and charges, to ensure they reflect inflation and changes in market costs.

 

“These reforms alongside those already in progress including rewriting the councillor Code of Conduct system, aim to enhance the reputation of local government as a robust, independent tier of government,” the State Government press release said.

It was released on Wednesday, May 7.

 

The proposed changes will impact Central Coast Council’s current plan to submit an SRV to IPART to keep its rate increase from 2021 that is due to drop off our rates bill in 2030.

Council’s long term plan currently on public exhibition for comment is based on the long term “scenario 2” of keeping the rate increase.

Councillor John McNamara has said he will be advocating for Scenario 3a for the Long Term Financial Plan.

Scenario 3a drops off the SRV and would result in a drop in average rates of about $226.

“The estimated yearly average rate in 2031/32 should be $1,745 which is much lower than other scenarios and we will get rid of the $31million special rate variation in 2031,” Cr McNamara said.

“My difference will be for more increase in non-rate revenue generation which will ease the service cuts impact.

“Under my version of 3A there should be exit from some current loss making services and assets that can be sold or transferred to private delivery with no impact to the community.”

 

Have your say on the plan by going here: https://www.yourvoiceourcoast.com/planning-our-future…

It includes a list of the increases in fees and charges, compared to current prices: https://hdp-au-prod-app-cencoast-yourvoice-files.s3.ap-so…