Buloke Shire Council is a “flashing night light” in need of financial support in the current rate capping environment, according to Victoria’s peak council lobby group.
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Municipal Association of Victoria chief executive, Rob Spence, recently told a government inquiry into rate capping: “You do not have to be Einstein to know who needs the capacity on rate increases or needs greater grant funding or support from the commonwealth or the state.”
“The likes of Buloke and so on. Buloke stands out as the flashing night light of the council in need.”
The state government introduced an indefinite rate cap in December 2015, which it said was in response to uncontrollable rate rises from local governments.
A 2.5 per cent cap was in place in 2016-17 – in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – while local government minister Natalie Hutchins announced a 2 per cent cap for the 2017-18 financial year in December.
Buloke Shire Council applied for higher rate cap in 2016-17 – up from 2.5 per cent to 3.05 per cent – but won’t reapply this year, according to the shire’s mayor, David Pollard.
“The amount of work to get that small variance (the equivalent of $50,000) combined with the people's capacity to pay – we can't see the value in applying again,” Cr Pollard said.
“We're struggling to meet our (asset) renewal requirements.”
“This 2017/18 budget (adopted on Wednesday evening) will bring in $2 million for roads and we should be tripling that.”
The main problem for smaller shires, which had reduced population bases, was the ability to raise revenue, Cr Pollard said.
“We don't have parking meters - it would cost more to operate them than what we'd get in revenue because of low traffic volumes,” he said, adding the shire doesn’t charge to use its swimming pools anymore either.
Buloke Shire Council was spearheading a rural living campaign, which aims to establish an intergovernmental working group to list a minimum amount of services each shire should provide.
“When we’ve got that list we’ve got to find out how that can be delivered,” Cr Pollard said, suggesting government grants for smaller, struggling shires was a possibility.
“For smaller rural councils to survive we've got to require different revenue streams to support our communities.”
The City of Greater Bendigo recently said it could lose more than $25 million over seven years in the current rate-capping climate, with jobs and services potentially at risk.
A fourth report into the rate capping inquiry suggested the financial sustainability of some rural and regional councils, particularly in relation to infrastructure and asset renewal, was a concern.
Breakdown of Buloke Shire Council’s spend
For every $100 it receives in rates;
$46 – spent on roads
$15 – capital works
$11.84 – parks and urban infrastructure
$0.06 – aged services
$0.71 – libraries
$0.61 – emergency management