In May, delegates from 44 Councils across New South Wales attended the Local Government Financial Awareness Conference. Staged in Parkes, a clear message from the Conference is that the imbalance in funding distributions between Federal, State and Local Governments has to be corrected urgently if Local Government is to survive.
Based on current trends and expanding obligations, without an appropriate level of funding, it is considered that many rural Councils will cease to be operational within five years.
Both the Mayor of Parkes, Councillor Robert Wilson, and the Chairman of CENTROC, Councillor Phyllis Miller, saw the Conference as a watershed for Local Government. They agreed that the continuing decline in resources places great doubt on the ability of Councils to withstand financial constraints.
“The deal for New South Wales is not even as strong as other States, where a proportion of funds is allocated to Local Government through National Competition Policy,” said Councillor Wilson. “Other States have the ability to levy additional taxes, such as a bed tax imposed by the Gold Coast City Council, but Councils in New South Wales continue to be disadvantaged through policies such as ratepegging and reductions in Commonwealth grant monies.”
Chairman of CENTROC, Councillor Phyllis Miller, said that many rural Councils are facing a critical situation with questions about their ability to deliver basic services.
“When a Council is unable to provide a gravel road to enable children to be transported to school and that Council has been subjected to an anti discrimination claim, we are really talking about quality of life issues,” said Councillor Miller. “It is ironic in the year that we are celebrating Federation, that some Councils should be struggling in the provision of basic services to their communities. The situation is serious and must be urgently addressed.”
The Conference resolved to inform the State and Federal Governments that current trends and the policy of passing responsibilities to Local Government without sufficient resources will lead to a shut down of basic services in some areas unless there is a fairer allocation of funding.
Training initiatives being developed by the Local Government Managers Association in collaboration with the NSW Local Government and Shires Association, the Department of Local Government and professional groups for Councillors and officers, were strongly endorsed. Delegates also expressed strong opposition to the policy of giving unfunded mandates to Local Government.
Concern for the level of exposure for individual Councils following the HIH collapse resulted in a Conference resolution for the establishment of a fund to provide urgent relief to individual Councils if they become encumbered by significant expense outside their control.
A Task Force has been appointed to pursue actions and to refer the resolutions of the Conference to the NSW Minister for Local Government, all State Members of Parliament, the Australian Local Government Association, the Local Government and Shires Association, the Local Government Managers Association and all New South Wales Councils.
Delegates expressed confidence that the real financial difficulties facing Local Government can be overcome, but this will require a shared and realistic commitment to securing more equitable funding arrangements in partnership with the State and Federal Governments.
