BALRANALD Shire Council has launched a stinging attack on proposed council
mergers in NSW, claiming rates would “invariably rise” and “the ‘local’ will
disappear from local government”.
“People will deal with bureaucrats from a
regional centre, effectively just another arm of State Government,” read an
official statement from the council.
It comes after a report from the
Independent Local Government Review Panel, which raises the idea of amalgamation
to repair a “broken” local government system.
In an assessment of all NSW
shires, New South Wales Treasury Corporation (TCorp) included Balranald among
scores of councils with a “weak” financial sustainability rating, and had a
“negative” outlook.
Much of the dire rating stems from council’s reliance on
state and government operating grants to maintain their infrastructure, in
particular, an extensive local road network.
But with a limited ratepayer
base, council suggests TCorp set unreasonable benchmarks for rural council
budgets, then suggested amalgamation as the only alternative.
Council
general manager Chris Littlemore said the State Government had caused budget
woes for councils in the first place.
“Rate pegging has limited the revenue
raising capacity of councils to the extent that NSW is 22-25 per cent behind
other states in rating levels,” he said.
