1. Enable financial sustainability

Local government is a partner in the economic stewardship of NSW and responsible for the provision of a wide range of essential infrastructure and services. 

However, the financial sustainability of councils has been undermined by rate-pegging, cost shifting onto local government, and state and federal funding arrangements that are no longer fit for purpose. 

LGNSW is calling on the NSW Government to:

  1. Review and amend rate peg methodology to prevent future financial shocks to the sector and to ultimately remove rate pegging.
  2. Rebate increases in council Emergency Services Levy (ESL) contributions and eventual replacement of the levy with a broad-based property tax.
  3. Reform the model for funding emergency services and remove the ESL on councils.

LGNSW is calling on the Australian Government to:

  1. Increase Financial Assistance Grants payments to 1% of Commonwealth tax revenue.

LGNSW is calling on the NSW and Australian governments to:

  1. Increase disaster recovery funding to councils to assist with replacement of essential local infrastructure to protect significant erosion of council budgets.
  2. End cost shifting.