The Chair of Rural Councils Victoria, Cr Mary-Ann Brown OAM has addressed the Parliament of Victoria’s public hearings for the Inquiry into Local Government funding and services.
Rural Councils Victoria Chair Cr Mary-Ann Brown AO said:
“Small councils are at a point where we have to make some hard decisions, such as cutting services, closing facilities or cutting back on maintenance of essential public infrastructure.
“The financial sustainability of local government is a pressing issue for RCV member councils.
“Over many years, local governments across the country have been facing a situation where their capacity to raise revenue is not matching the expectations and needs of their communities.
“RCV recently surveyed member councils and none indicated that they were in an excellent financial sustainability position,” Cr Brown said.
“Over half the councils surveyed indicated that their financial position was average, while a further quarter said that their situation was poor.
“Councils cannot be expected to continue with adjusted underlying deficits without a deterioration in cash and/or infrastructure,” Cr Brown said.
“Councils only have two reliable sources of income, rates – which are capped – and grants, which have been declining in real terms for years.
“Small rural communities are resilient and self-reliant but rural councils are being hit from many directions all at once.
“In recent years there have been successive natural disasters, a cost-of-living crisis, community expectations have changed and the system for financing councils and council services has not kept up.
“Put simply, councils need more resources, and we need federal and state governments to help us keep up with inflation,” Cr Brown said.
RCV was among several organisations invited to speak at hearings on Wednesday 26 June 2024.
The other organisations include: Local Government Victoria, the Municipal Association of Victoria, the Victorian Local Governance Association, Local Government Finance Professionals (FinPro) and Council Watch are also scheduled to address the hearings.