Following an extensive community engagement process, Gunnedah Shire Council has made the difficult but necessary decision to proceed with a Special Rate Variation at an Extraordinary Meeting yesterday. It was noted that a Special Rate Variation (SRV) was needed to address Council’s financial sustainability and maintain essential community infrastructure and service levels.

While there was strong support for no SRV indicated in the community feedback, there was equally strong support for levels of service to at least be maintained or even improved, which is not possible without an SRV.

The original SRV proposal was for a permanent cumulative 38.88% increase over two years with a 24% increase in year one and 12% increase in year two. The community feedback indicated that the year one increase was too high.

Council considered a range of scenarios in response to the community feedback and has determined to proceed with a Special Rate Variation over two years that is 37.67% cumulative but caps the increase on Residential, Business and Farmland rate categories at 15% per year (32.25% cumulative). The balance of the revised SRV of 37.67% cumulative is to be sourced from the Mining rating category.

Six SRV scenarios were included in the report to Council for consideration and the options were robustly debated at the meeting. Given the current financial position of the Council and the significant challenges that face local government in relation to increased costs associated with cost-shifting, high inflation and natural disasters, Council has made a balanced determination on the SRV that considers the potential impacts on Council’s services and the essential infrastructure it supports and the community.

Council was also mindful of community feedback regarding efficiency and productivity and included an action to strive for improvement through efficiency gains and operational savings and report on progress in May each year.

The option of a lower SRV offset by savings was considered by Council. However, it was also acknowledged that Council operates in a highly legislatively constrained environment and there are minimum levels of service that Council is required to support. In this environment, it is difficult to nominate guaranteed savings that could assist with reducing the impact of a Special Rate Variation. The decision that Council has made is responsible but allows for flexibility in that we will continue to strive for efficiency in the way we can deliver services. The community will be invited to have their say on the revised SRV proposal and information about the way to do this will be provided on Council’s website.

Key points from Council’s Extraordinary Meeting on 6 November 2024 are:

• Gunnedah Shire Council committed to proceed with a section 508(A) permanent Special Rate Variation (SRV) to address its financial sustainability and maintain
  essential community infrastructure and service levels.
• In response to the community feedback, Council determined a position on the SRV as follows:
  • An SRV application to be made to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) under section 508(A) be endorsed at 37.67% cumulative to be phased in over two years and retained permanently commencing in 2025-2026.
  • This scenario spreads the SRV more evenly over two years and caps the Residential, Business and Farmland rating categories to an SRV of 15% per annum (32.25% cumulative) with the balance to be sourced from the Mining rating category.
• Council makes an application to IPART under section 548 of the Local Government Act 1993 for the Maximum value of the Minimum ordinary rate for Residential, Business and Farmland categories to be set as follows to match the section 508(A) permanent SRV application value:
  

• Council, prior to 29 November 2024, Council will formally notify IPART that it intends to submit a Special Rate Variation application for the 2025-2026 financial year.
• Council's Integrated Planning & Reporting (IP&R) documentation will be updated to meet the SRV application requirements, and the amended IP&R documents will be presented to a future Council meeting for the purpose of being endorsed by Council for public exhibition.
• Council will convene an Extraordinary Council meeting in January 2025 for the purpose of receiving any submissions on the revised IP&R documentation and to endorse the SRV application, including Council's approach to continuous improvement, efficiency gains and operational savings, prior to the submission to IPART by February 3, 2025.
• Council will strive to achieve $930,000 through efficiency gains and operational savings over the 3-year period 2025 to 2028 with a report to council by May 30th annually during this period.

QUOTES FROM MAYOR CR COLLEEN FULLER:

“It’s time to plan for the future of our Shire.
“Gunnedah Shire Council spoke with the community about a proposed application for a Special Rate Variation (SRV) to maintain and potentially enhance the services it currently receives.
“We listened to what the community told us and have developed a revised proposal based on the feedback we received which is crucial in shaping Gunnedah’s future.
“I would like to thank my fellow councillors and staff for what has been a great team approach to this very important process and to ensuring the outcomes meet the needs of our community as best as possible while also maintaining a range of efficiency and productivity measures.”

ENDS