Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC) mayor Councillor Charlie Sheahan – Mayoral Minute:
Councillor Sheahan has raised the findings the LGNSW Cost Shifting report for 2021/2022 financial year. A copy of the report is posted below.
Councillor Sheahan proposed that Council write to the Premier, the NSW Treasurer and the NSW Minister for Local Government asking that they urgently seek to address these costs through a combination of regulatory reform, budgetary provision, and appropriate funding.
“The pressure on councils to continue to provide services of appropriate standard to our communities is now extraordinary. The unrelenting growth of cost shifting to councils, coupled with rate pegging, is increasingly eroding any possibility of financially sustainable local government, and risking the capacity of councils to deliver tailored, grassroots services to their communities and properly deliver and maintain vital local infrastructure. Alarmingly, the latest research commissioned by Local Government NSW (LGNSW) shows that the increase in cost shifting has been accelerated by various NSW Government policies. I believe our communities deserve better and this must stop. Prior to the most recent state election the then Minns Opposition wrote to LGNSW acknowledging that cost shifting had undermined the financial sustainability of the local government sector,” Cr Sheahan said.
Cost Shifting Report
https://www.lgnsw.org.au/costshifting
