State Budget | Members' Survey | LGA Board Meeting | Council Member Allowances No Images? Click here Vol 3: Issue 34 - Monday 10 September 2018 Nominations are now open for the next term of council, and it’s great to see many of you putting your hands up to serve your community again, as well as some new candidates looking to get involved in local government. Last week the new State Government handed down its first Budget, and while we welcomed the abolishment of ‘Rubble Royalties’, it’s clear more still needs to be done to reduce cost shifting to councils. The LGA will continue its strong advocacy on this front. Please let us know what you think of the LGA’s performance – and what we should be doing more or less of – through our Members’ Survey. This is your Association so have your say! LGA President Sue Clearihan State BudgetIt was fantastic to see ‘Rubble Royalties’ scrapped when the State Budget was handed down by Treasurer Rob Lucas last week. Introduced in the 2014-15 Budget, ‘Rubble Royalties’ are a royalty that councils must pay on rubble taken from roadside borrow pits, and are essentially a tax on regional and remote councils maintaining safe roads. The LGA has consistently advocated for their removal, including in our State Budget submission this year, and this announcement will save our sector – and ratepayers – around $1 million per year (or around $1,000 per km of road constructed). However, despite this welcome news, this year’s Budget shows that the Government is still largely failing to live up to their pre-election commitment to stop cost shifting to councils. The LGA’s Budget Submission asked the Government to honour this commitment by freezing the Solid Waste Levy at 2017/18 levels, removing the requirement for councils to collect the NRM Levy for the State, and scrapping legislated rates rebates for community housing. Through these levies and mandatory rates rebates the Government is adding millions of dollars of costs to councils each year – costs that ultimately have to be passed on to rate payers. It’s disappointing that councils will be forced to continue charging their ratepayers fees that the State Government should be taking ownership of. This is especially disappointing coming from a government that wants to cap council rates. The LGA’s full 2018-19 State Budget analysis can be downloaded here. LGA Members’ SurveyIf you haven’t already completed our Members’ Survey then I would encourage you to take a few minutes to provide your feedback on the LGA’s performance and priorities. This survey is conducted independently by Hudson Howells with only the consolidated findings being reported to the LGA, which means that your response will remain confidential. Feedback we receive will help shape our planning for the 2019-20, and make sure that the services the LGA delivers to members remain relevant. Responses are due by 20 September (ten days time). If you have any questions please contact Executive Director Corporate and Member Services Kathy Jarrett on 8224 2000 or at kathy.jarrett@lga.sa.gov.au. LGA Board MeetingThe current LGA Board will meet for its final ordinary meeting this Thursday in Port Lincoln, before our new governance arrangements - and new Board – come into effect at next month’s AGM. You can download the papers for this week’s meeting here. I would like to thank all of the current and former Board members for their contributions over the past two years. Some of our achievements over this period have included:
It has been an honour to serve with my local government colleagues on this Board, and deliver these outcomes that have not only benefited our sector but also our communities Regional healthThe provision of adequate community health services is unfortunately an issue for many of our regional councils. Earlier this year Streaky Bay Council had to purchase their local medical centre to ensure continued health care for their community; and Kimba’s search for a local doctor has now gone national, thanks to a story on Channel 7’s Sunrise program. Frustrated with a lack of action from the State Government, Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson resigned last week as Presiding Member of the Eastern Eyre Health Advisory Board (subscriber link). In our 2018-19 State Budget Submission the LGA called for funding for a Tripartite Rural Health Strategic Plan to improve and secure access to health services, as well as a $5 million funding pool to resource immediate and high priority health issues, and we will continue to advocate to the Government for better funding and support for regional health services in SA. Council member allowancesThe Remuneration Tribunal of South Australia has released its determination of council member allowances for the coming four year council period. Most allowances have increased by around 8% - or 2% per annum – since 2014, with council members serving on smaller councils getting a slightly larger increase. You can find the full determinations on the Remuneration Tribunal’s website. Emergency response updateEarlier this year, the LGA created the Emergency Management Support Unit to consolidate the LGA’s assistance to councils with emergency management. This unit comprises a planning function that is supporting councils with their own Emergency Management Plans, as well as an operations function focussed on coordinating local government activities during incidents. It has been a busy period for the unit, with recent successes including:
2018 Community Engagement ForumThe LGA held a very successful Community Engagement Forum at LG House last week, attended by around 30 council staff. This event included a Model Public Consultation Workshop in the morning, as well as a Community Engagement Symposium with expert presentations and facilitated discussions in the afternoon. As the closest government to communities it’s vital we continue to look at new and best practice engagement processes, and events like this allow attendees to consider how they can further improve their council’s consultation activities. The 2018 LGA Conference Dinner will once again include the presentation of the Jim Hullick Award. Named in honour of former LGA CEO Jim Hullick, this award recognises state and federal public servants who have achieved great things by working closely with councils. More information on the Jim Hullick Award and nomination process can be found on our website, and the deadline for nominations has been extended to 21 September. For further information or to submit |