ALBURY Council could be forced to re-visit another special rate variation to make existing marquee projects and promises made during the election campaign become reality.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW councils have been handed a rate cap of only 1.5 per cent in 2017-18 and the squeeze is already on.
The rate peg is down from 1.8 per cent in the present financial year and has already been condemned by Local Government NSW which is already encouraging councils to make applications for rate variations to bankroll existing and future infrastructure needs.
Councils have until December 9 to signal its intention to apply for a rate variation.
Albury was granted a special rate variation in 2011 to help bankroll, in part, design work for Murray Art Museum Albury, upgrades at Albury Entertainment Centre and Wagirra Trail works.
The biggest project on council’s books is the aquatics strategy with the newly elected council confronting a choice between retaining Albury and Lavington pools or building a new aquatic centre, with a 51.5-metre pool, at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and keeping the Albury pool.
The cheapest option of keeping both pools is estimated to cost $20 million over next decade and an indoor 50-metre complex at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre could cost around $36 million.
On a smaller scale, councillors are pushing for the creation of outdoor basketball courts and a caravan park on the Murray River which could cater for large recreational vehicles.
Mayor Kevin Mack said the 1.5 per cent rate peg announced by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal was politically motivated.
He said the NSW Government was still smarting from the recent Orange by-election resullt when the Coalition suffered a shock defeat in part blamed on recent council amalgamations.
“The result in Orange has forced the government to do this because they want to charm the ratepayers,” he said.
“The reality is it’s not going to work.
“We still have to run the business of council day-to-day and have to find the money somewhere.
“Council is in good shape financially and we’ve got a surplus, but if 1.5 per cent went beyond this year you would have to review fees and charges.”
But Cr Mack stopped short of a special rate variation.
“It’s not a discussion at this point, but with things like the pool if there is a strong enough message, a special variation is how it works.”
LGNSW president Keith Rhoades said the 1.5 per cent rate peg was part of a financial noose which continued to tighten on councils.
“The 2017-18 rate peg of 1.5 per cent is down on last year’s cap of 1.8 per cent, which was less than 2014’s cap of 2.3 per cent, which in turn was less than 2013’s peg of 3.4 per cent,” he said.
“IPART has come to the 1.5 per cent figure despite an increase of 2.3 per cent in employee benefits and on-costs, and an increase of 2.7 per cent in non-residential building construction costs.
“But that just fails to recognise the ongoing squeeze on councils that comes from the combination of rate-pegging and cost-shifting, and deteriorating infrastructure.”