The incoming group of councillors, following the September 14 election, will have a recommendation to consider and decide upon from the outgoing council - to endorse the progress of an SRV application to IPART for a 69.94% rate increase over two years commencing July 1, 2025.
At the final meeting of the currently elected council on Tuesday, August 28, it was unanimously agreed by the nine councillors to take action towards the 69.94% rate hike.
Forty candidates are standing for election as councillors to the nine positions of councillor. Three current councillors – Gail Law, David Longley and Aaron Nicholls – are not seeking re-election.
Council’s chief financial officer Jo Shannon emphasised the significance of the SRVs to allow Federation to become sustainable.
“Our proposal is simply asking for sufficient additional funds to start a journey to sustainability,” she said at council’s August meeting,“ Ms Shannon said.
“The community must understand, that in the absence of a fairer distribution of grants, and also compensation for the fiscally disastrous amalgamation, that council will have no choice other than to return in five years’ time for another substantial increase.
“Doing otherwise would put essential services and infrastructure in jeopardy and unfairly shift the burdens to our children and grandchildren.”
Ms Shannon presented a long and detailed six-page report for council on progress towards a permanent SRV from July 1, 2025.
Council adopted five reports prepared by the University of Newcastle (by Professor Drew, Professor Miyazaki, and Professor Ferreira) in August 2024: Financial Sustainability Report, Capacity to Pay Report, Efficiency Report, Debt Capacity Report and Community Engagement Report. Briefly:
- The Financial Sustainability Report is an update to the November 2023 report on The Advantages and Disadvantages of Amalgamation and Federation Council’s Financial Sustainability Journey.
- The Capacity to Pay Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors relevant for considering property owners and their capacity to pay increased local government rates.
- The Efficiency Report provides a comprehensive review of the relative technical efficiency of council.
- The Debt Capacity Report provides a comprehensive analysis of council’s debt capacity.
- The Community Engagement Report provides detail on community engagement undertaken and feedback received through this process.
Ms Shannon said that over the past two months there has been extensive community engagement led by Professor Drew.
“Council in either late 2024 or early 2025 will also adopt a new Community Engagement Strategy, and this will guide council’s continuing engagement including on financial sustainability,” she said.
“This is a critical area for the community to continue to become more informed on the challenges facing council, especially regarding its aged assets and the service reviews and possible further cuts where council considers it necessary.
“This is important to mention, as some in the community who are against the SRV, still feel that even if it is approved, it should mean council should not be cutting any services.
“Unfortunately, the scale of the asset backlog means that council can never make this commitment, nor should any responsible business, especially ones that use public funds.
“Services need to be continually reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose, and that council is not over-servicing in some areas at the expense of others.”
Most of the talk by councillors at their final meeting were thanks to the council staff for their time-consuming work on the subject and mixed opinions about community involvement.
Cr David Fahey OAM said there has been “an absolute power of work and the facts are all there”.
“I thank all the staff for a fantastic exercise,” he said.
Cr Shaun Whitechurch thanked staff. “It’s one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever had to make,” he commented about the SRVs and suggested council explore different ways to engage with the community, including ‘kitchen table meetings’.
Used by organisations over the decades, including like the famous friendly breakfast meeting by North Melbourne Football Club in 1973 to lure Ron Barassi as coach, a kitchen table meeting is a way of engaging stakeholders (citizens, elected officials, public and private sector representatives, youth, etcetra) who want to be involved in a territorial diagnostic or in developing an action plan. The results by North Melbourne were so successful. Would bigger-attended ‘kitchen table meetings’ work regarding Local Government?
There are better ways to get more community attendees according to Cr Nicholls. “A kitchen table conversation is critical,” he said.
The presence of and respect for a councillor is significant according to Cr Fahey who has a long local government background. The much-seen councillor in the community often hears the words ‘we trust in you’. He said council can’t expect too many community responses, particularly as “a lot of people don’t care”.
“With respect, Cr Fahey, people do care,” Cr Sally Hughes responded, “a lot of people feel uncomfortable going to a meeting.”
Another well-known figure in town is Howlong-based Cr Longley who “communicates a lot with our people” in various town locations. “I talk to a lot of people,” he said.
Mayor Pat Bourke congratulated General Manager Adrian Butler, Ms Shannon and all the staff on their work, mentioning how council was “very transparent and the ship was turned around” with Professor Drew’s findings and support of council’s approach.
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