1. Enable financial sustainability
Local government is a partner in the economic stewardship of NSW and responsible for the provision of a wide range of essential infrastructure and services.
However, the financial sustainability of councils has been undermined by rate-pegging, cost shifting onto local government, and state and federal funding arrangements that are no longer fit for purpose.
LGNSW is calling on the NSW Government to:
- Review and amend rate peg methodology to prevent future financial shocks to the sector and to ultimately remove rate pegging.
- Rebate increases in council Emergency Services Levy (ESL) contributions and eventual replacement of the levy with a broad-based property tax.
- Reform the model for funding emergency services and remove the ESL on councils.
LGNSW is calling on the Australian Government to:
- Increase Financial Assistance Grants payments to 1% of Commonwealth tax revenue.
LGNSW is calling on the NSW and Australian governments to:
- Increase disaster recovery funding to councils to assist with replacement of essential local infrastructure to protect significant erosion of council budgets.
- End cost shifting.