Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council will make a submission to the NSW Grants Commission on their proposed methodology for redistribution of the Financial Assistance Grant to other Councils in NSW.
Under the draft new methodology, as proposed by the Commission, Council's Federal Government Financial Assistance Grant income would be reduced by $1.9 million in the next financial year, growing to an annual reduction of $5.95 million within 10 years with indexation. Over a 10-year period, this represents a cumulative $41.4 million reduction to Council's revenue.
"While Council is in support of a fair funding model for councils and it is good to review the methodology, the proposed new methodology has led to some perverse outcomes," said Mayor Kenrick Winchester.
"No council should be worse off," said Mayor Winchester.
"The real concern is that the overall funding pool for councils is just not enough. If a review of methodology will mean that many councils lose funding, then the total amount of funding from the Federal Government needs to increase first," the Mayor said.
"We know that the Government has proposed increasing the total Financial Assistance funding available and we believe that the redistribution should happen when the funding is increased."
"The broader problem is that local government requires a more sustainable funding model, and this redistribution simply moves financial pressure from one community to another."
"We will be making a submission to highlight our concerns and to press for fairness."
