Something as simple as economy of scale means it is so much harder these days for smaller councils to get ahead.
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Often they simply don’t have enough ratepayers to generate the level of income required for their ongoing sustainability.
And often they are based in rural areas that present challenges in a way not faced by bigger councils, such as in the city or in regional cities like Wodonga.
A lot of that is centred on maintaining essential infrastructure, the most obvious example being roads and bridges.
Such spending is absolutely essential to ensure the high-quality agricultural produce from the area can be efficiently moved to the marketplace.
Poor quality roads make that harder to achieve. Rural communities just don’t need these impediments to their ongoing, long-term viability.
It is only a few weeks since Towong Council had to face similar challenges in the drafting of its budget.
It got approval to exceed the Victorian government's rate cap and hike its rates by 6.34 per cent, though Towong quickly made it clear it wanted a rise closer to the mandated peg of 2.5 per cent.
What this all meant was it will be able to use the approved rise figure to lobby the government for increased funding to cover its costs.
For it’s this climate of ever-rising costs that means it still had to look at trimming services, something no council wants to have to face. But it’s the reality when your ratepayer base is so low.
That has been brought into focus again now with the preparation of the Indigo Council draft budget.
Indigo has long set the rural council standard for efficiency but that doesn’t mean it will always deliver the perfect result. But the council and its residents and ratepayers have a right to be pleased with what has been achieved.
Mayor James Trenery goes as far as to say its 2.5 percent rate rise and a forecast deficit of $170,000 is a “fantastic” result in the light of federal money disappearing.
Regardless, Indigo has managed to keep its substantial support in place for the SES.
And it has also looking to the future, with money allocated to a Barnawartha structure plan and more cash for major road works in critical areas.
Indigo Council should be congratulated then on what it has managed to achieve.