Satisfaction with council’s operations seems to rely upon rates and roads, and the money local government has to spend on maintenance governs both.
Surveys have shown that the issue of road maintenance is one that ratepayers frequently list as highly important, with a comparatively low approval of council’s management of it.
Councils have a huge opportunity to increase community satisfaction.
Unfortunately, in many cases it appears the money simply isn’t there for councils to spend.
As the recent Victorian Auditor General’s report recently highlighted, local governments in Victoria are spending $225.3 million less than is needed to maintain current infrastructure.
Councils need to work smartly with the money that they have, taking into account their own unique situation to properly manage their road assets.
Whether this is managing debt better, prioritising projects correctly or simply working smarter, it is in the hands of local governments to determine the best way to manage their own budget and road network.
Resources like the National Asset Management Assessment Framework exist to help with councils better utilising their assets.
While the gap seems insurmountable and large rate rises are an unrealistic solution, opportunities for funding these projects do exist.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss’ introduction of the Land Transport Infrastructure Amendment Bill sees an extension of the Roads to Recovery programme funding till 2019 and a golden opportunity to repair huge sections of the road network.
With efficient, effective and clever use of this money, local governments across Australia finally have a major part of the resources needed to shrink the infrastructure maintenance gap.
Results from recent satisfaction surveys have not all been negative however.
Sixty-nine percent of Victorian residents believe their local councils are heading in the right direction, up two points from the previous year from the Statewide Local Government Services Report 2013.
Satisfaction with Local Government in Queensland is also on the rise, with some councils receiving the highest levels of community satisfaction since 2003.
Whether individual councils receive tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands from the proposed grants, every single one should try to find the most streamlined and efficient way to pass this value on to the ratepayer though an upgraded and repaired road network.
