Fit For the Future Program

IPART ASSESSMENT OF NSW COUNCIL FIT FOR THE FUTURE PROPOSALS - OCTOBER 2015

COUNCIL'S COMPLETED SUBMISSION

This submission was posted on the IPART website on 26 June 2015.

WHAT IS IT?

The State Government has issued a reform agenda for the local government industry in NSW called the Fit For the Future Program (FFF).

Recommendations include:

Structural change including mergers and amalgamation

A review of Financial Assistance Grants ensuring the grants are directed to those areas that really need them. This should direct grants away from prosperous large city councils and towards smaller councils like ours.

Councils need to demonstrate:

They have sufficient scale and capacity to remain sustainable in the long term by meeting a series of benchmarks set by the State Government

Determine whether to amalgamate or stand alone and then submit their preferred option to the State Government by 30 June 2015

Gain broad community support for their preferred option and proposed improvement plan.

IS OUR SHIRE FIT FOR THE FUTURE?

Lockhart Shire already meets ALL BUT ONE of the scale and capacity benchmarks set by the State Government.

Our financial capacity is rated as SOUND - in the top 20% over the whole state

We are one of only three councils in our comparative grouping which has a positive operating surplus - ours is 20.6% while the group average is negative 14.8%

We have a very low backlog of infrastructure works - in the lowest 14% of the state.

Other benchmarks met apart from Own Source Revenue (OSR).

Own Source Revenue (OSR) means the revenue raised by council's own resources and excludes all grant income. The State Government's benchmark for OSR is 60% and our level is currently around 35%.

This means that substantial additional revenue will need to be generated to satisfy this criteria. Reluctantly, Council has realised that some modest rate rises over and above CPI increases will be necessary to reach the target level. This will be expanded upon at the upcoming community consultation meetings.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM MAYOR, PETER YATES