Local Councils have been dealt a low blow by the State Government who, as late as the last fortnight, unexpectedly announced the withdrawal of its subsidy on emergency services levies (ESL).
ESLs – which help pay for important non-Council services like the RFS and SES – are currently funded out of local rates income. The last-minute removal of the NSW Government’s subsidy will see the local application of Leeton Shire’s anticipated rates increase for 23/24 immediately eroded by approximately $129,000, a situation the Mayor, Tony Reneker, is calling “hugely unfair and entirely unreasonable to local Councils who are already struggling to make ends meet”.
Mayor Cr Tony Reneker will submit a report to the 24 May 2023 Ordinary Council Meeting recommending Council write to the Treasurer, the Minister for Emergency Services, the Minister for Local Government and local State Member Helen Dalton expressing Council’s strong opposition to the NSW Government’s last-minute decision to impose a larger-than-usual Emergency Services Levy (ESL) cost increase on councils for 2023/24.
Mayor Cr Tony Reneker added “All councils strongly support a well-funded emergency services sector and fully appreciate the critical contribution of emergency services workers and volunteers. However, going forward, it is essential that these non-Council services be supported through a more appropriate funding model that is equitable, transparent, and sustainable. Burdening local council rates is simply not the way.”
For Leeton Shire Council, the ESL increase and removal of the subsidy amounts to around an additional $129,000 impost for 2023/24, bringing the total Council contribution for ESL to $292,365 pa.
Stated differently, the full ESL now amounts to close to 65% of the expected increase in rates income for 2023/24, which means Council will have access to less than half the allowed rates increase for core council services.
The timing of this development is particularly challenging as it comes so late in the local government budgeting cycle, well after IPART’s rate determination for the coming financial year. If the NSW Government’s decision is not reversed, Council’s advertised operating deficit will be further worsened by around $129,000.
