Mandate to oppose rate capping | Support package for SA waste sector | 2018-19 Federal Budget | City of Adelaide | May LGA Board Meeting No Images? Click here Vol 3: Issue 18 - Monday 14 May 2018 Some amazing things happening at the moment – never a dull time in local government. The State announced a release of funds to help with our recycling problem. We’ll be meeting with Minister Speirs later this week to find out more about whether the announced funding addresses the issues for local government that are backed up by factual and well researched data. However, they will give with one hand and take with the other by not freezing the levy. I cannot believe that any government sitting on more that $100 million would take a massive 15% waste levy increase in the very same year they tell us to "cap your council rates"! And that’s not all – we’re currently endeavouring to confirm that SA Labor will stand by their pre-election commitment to support communities and oppose rate capping. Ah politics is a funny old game… LGA President Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg The mandate to oppose rate cappingWe are continuing to talk with the SA Labor Party and the Upper House crossbench, asking them to honour their pre-election commitments to councils and voters to oppose rate capping. The SA Labor Party are currently considering all of their pre-election positions, including shop trading hours and rate capping. From our perspective, if any party looks at the numbers in the recent election and concludes there is no mandate to deregulate shop trading hours, they must also reach the same conclusion about rate capping. They both have the same ‘mandate’. If Labor backflips on their commitment it will be a repudiation of years of state and local government collaboration. It would be a stab in the back to councils and communities after deliberately shifting costs to our sector over the past 16 years. Labor, SA Best and the Greens all ran on an anti-rate capping platform, winning seven out of the available 11 seats in the Upper House. The LGA will be calling on them to reconfirm the commitments they made, and you can help by continuing to talk to your local MPs about how this policy would hurt your communities. Support package for SA waste sectorOn Saturday the State Government announced a $12.4 million support package to help address the impacts of China’s National Sword policy. It’s pleasing the Government has committed to providing a support package to help address this issue. We’ll be looking closely at the details to see how the announced funding might assist councils and their communities during this transitional period. However, it’s astonishing they haven’t used this opportunity to freeze the Solid Waste Levy, which has been spiralling out of control for years and is set to increase by another whopping 15% on 1 July. Councils are already paying almost $30 million annually to the Solid Waste Levy, and this latest increase will cost our ratepayers an additional $4.5 million per year. Given there’s $100 million previously collected through the levy stockpiled in the Green Industry Fund, there doesn’t seem to be any good reason for continued annual increases. This decision not to shield ratepayers from blatant cost shifting exposes the Liberal Party’s rate capping policy for what it is – an empty promise to reduce cost of living. How can the State Government justify a state tax increasing by 15% - more than five times the average metropolitan rate increase for 2017/18 - while running a campaign against the level of government that only collects 4% of national taxes? Before the election the SA Liberal party acknowledged that cost shifting is an issue for local government, and promised to address it. Was this just another empty election promise? We will continue to advocate for the sector on this issue, and make sure South Australians know about every extra dollar they are forced to pay in council rates as a result of state government cost shifting. 2018-19 Federal BudgetWhile last week’s 2018-19 Federal Budget included some significant large-scale infrastructure projects for our State, it was disappointing that supplementary local road funding for SA councils was not confirmed beyond the coming financial year. South Australia has 11% of Australia’s identified local roads, and 7% of its population, but receives just 5.5% of federal local roads funding. Last year’s Budget included a two-year $40 million commitment to supplementary road funding that addressed the unfair share of federal funding SA receives. However, this additional funding will expire after 2018-19, leaving SA councils with a $20 million question mark hanging over their future roads budgets. A key focus for the LGA this year will be advocating to South Australian federal MPs to support the continuation of supplementary road funding for SA in 2019-20 and beyond. A commitment from the Commonwealth to make this funding permanent would enable South Australian councils to better plan for strategic road upgrades, and put them on a level playing field with councils interstate. South Australian councils were allocated around $160 million in FAGs in the 2018-19 Federal Budget – an increase of $4 million on 2017-18. This CPI increase is appreciated, but more needs to be done to grow the total value of these grants. Over the past two decades the relative value of FAGs has decreased significantly – from 1% of national taxation in 1996 to 0.55% today. Local government collects just 4% of Australia’s taxes, and over time the total value of FAGs grants should be increased to its previous level to ensure that councils are adequately resourced to provide the services and facilities their communities need. I’d also remind you to take every opportunity to acknowledge and say thank you to the Federal Government, including your local Federal MPs, for this FAGs funding, which is vitally important to our sector. City of AdelaideCapital cities play an important role in local government associations, and it’s been fantastic to forge a stronger bond between the LGA and City of Adelaide over the past 12 months. I would like to acknowledge Lord Mayor Martin Haese, the elected members and staff at the Council for their assistance with some key recent events and projects. Last month we held our Ordinary General Meeting at Adelaide Town Hall, and also worked together to deliver a Future Cities Summit at this venue the day before. This follows successful joint summits in recent years that brought the sector together to develop consistent responses to important issues such as employment and heritage. Lord Mayor Haese has recently joined the Metropolitan Local Government Group (MLGG), and I’m looking forward to his contributions and insights. The Lord Mayor has also offered his council’s assistance as we work through the impact of China’s revised waste import restrictions. We’ll be hosting a Waste Pathways Forum to further discuss this issue next month, and you can find out more about this event – and register to attend – here. May LGA Board MeetingWe will hold our May Board meeting in Adelaide this Thursday. One of the items being discussed is the LGA’s draft Annual Business Plan and Budget, which will guide the Association’s priorities and work program for the 2018-19 financial year. I would encourage you to take a look at the board papers here and read about the key issues being considered. If you have any questions or comments, the full list of LGA Board members is available here. I will provide an update on some of the key outcomes from this week’s meeting next Monday. For further information or to submit |