President’s comment
Between rate-capping and a Local Government Act Review, Victoria at the moment is a microcosm for the challenges and opportunities of governance at all tiers of government.
The dust is settling around the arrival of the rate capping legislation at the State level – in the form of an amendment to the Act (titled with some Orwellian flair the “Fair Go Rates System”). This election commitment from the Government responds to angst in the community around the ongoing levels of rate increases in recent years by seeking to limit these to a level determined by the minister for each council above or below CPI.
It is in our view at the Victorian Local Governance Association that the system is a blunt instrument to address community expectations around value for money and the desire for stronger, more immediate and consequential involvement in council decision making. In this regard we have been working hard with Local Government Victoria, the Essential Services Commission and the Local Government Minister to hone the edge of this instrument and its processes as much as possible.
From where we stand, the opportunity exists to create a system that encourages councils to invite their communities in to the decision making process in a deep and deliberative fashion, using the results of this to inform the Minister’s decision when deciding the fairer rate. Some great examples of deliberative democracy have brought communities into decision-making processes at City of Melbourne, City of Darebin and Hepburn Shire.
Our observation is that, where communities are involved in these conversations, the deliberative process results in citizens taking on a more detailed and appreciative apprehension of the balancing act that governments perform in providing services among many competing needs and stakeholders.
Here in Victoria, the signs are promising that the Government’s overhaul of the Act will provide recognition of the benefits and improved outcomes from communities taking part in these processes, and in so doing provide a means for councils and communities to engage with the limits imposed on council budgeting processes in a positive and productive way.
Another way that we hope the Act review will further refine the Fair Go Rates System is that it might actually provide direction in how councils can, in this financially austere environment, actually function to realise efficiency, not just cut services. The fact is that those local government areas (often small rural municipalities) most impacted by the cap will be those least able to absorb it. This situation is best summed up by Buloke Shire’s leadership in the Rural Living Campaign.
We at the VLGA continue to work towards ensuring that these state government measures provide opportunities to ensure that members of the Victorian local government sector are national leaders and not laggards in service to our communities.
