Local Mayors say it is time to take action to secure funding for local councils

As local councils across NSW have struggled to financially support their communities, the state government has frozen the fees they can charge developers, taken over their assets (like caravan parks – a significant income stream), and made them apply endlessly for grants.

Tweed, Byron, and Ballina mayors all told The Echo that they are glad to see that the NSW government has taken on the majority of the recommendations from the NSW Parliament Upper House inquiry into the ability of local governments to fund infrastructure and services inquiry. The NSW government has said it will support 15 of the 17 recommendations. 

‘The audit into fees and charges is particularly welcomed,’ said Tweed Shire Mayor, Chris Cherry. 

‘This has impacts on developments because the freeze in fees over the years has meant that the charges we have been able to charge a developer to pay for all the infrastructure needed such as stormwater, sewer, water access, libraries, parks etc have been frozen for close to 20 years. As a result, they do not in any way represent the true cost of a development. This has the effect that our ratepayers are effectively subsidising developments. 

‘With updated fees and charges, this will mean the cost of developments is leveraged on the developer who is making the gain rather than the general ratepayer. The recommendations should mean that Councils are a lot more financially sustainable into the future.’

Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye agrees telling The Echo that the 20 year freeze was ‘clearly unsustainable’. 

Financial Assistance Grants have declined significantly over the last few decades and currently sit at 0.5 per cent of GDP. 

‘In my view, the long-term solution remains what many in the sector have said for years: the federal government should commit to allocating at least one per cent of Australia’s revenue, untethered, to local government through Federal Assistance Grants (Recommendation 5),’ said Cr Ndiaye. 

‘Everyone knows this is what’s necessary. It would allow councils to properly fund the infrastructure and services our communities rely on, avoid pork barreling, and allow councils to plan properly, without needing to short-change residents or resort to piecemeal fixes to complex problems.’

Ballina Mayor, Sharon Cadwallader also supports Recommendation 5 telling The Echo that, ‘it is imperative that this funding be restored to one per cent of GDP’.

‘Similarly, the state government needs to review the rating structure to provide better benchmarking to support councils that do have low levels of average rates, as does Ballina Shire, which means that we fall further behind each year as compared to other councils with higher levels of rate income,’ she said. 

‘Overall, there are a lot of good recommendations in the report, however, we do need action on the recommendations, as we have seen similar reports over the years that unfortunately have not resulted in meaningful change.’

Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said, ‘It’s clear the status quo is not sustainable for councils and it’s not fair on communities who will lose out. The ratepayers of NSW deserve assurance their money is being put to good use and that councils are doing all they can to tighten their belts, just like families are doing across the state.’