PHOTO: Narromine is one of several regional councils struggling to find adequate funding.
After speaking up continuously about inequity between city and country, the Country Mayor’s Association has welcomed a review into the financial stability of Local Governments.
Summing up the situation, CMA Chair and Gunnedah Mayor Jamie Chaffey said, “Rural and regional Councils face greater financial sustainability barriers, with a reduced ability to generate their own source revenue than city councils.”
Mr Chaffey announced that draft Terms of Reference from the NSW Government to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for a review of the local government financial model are now on the tribunal’s website.
Data analysis of 87 CMA member councils’ financials shoes that operating expenses are far higher per capita, yet low-rate bases mean smaller councils rely on up to 80 percent of their revenue coming from grants. Of course, grant income is often variable and project funding is subject to cost escalations at little to no notice…