Council has been advised that proposed changes to how financial assistance grants are distributed across NSW will result in Snowy Monaro Regional Council receiving $5.1 million per year less in grants towards providing services to its residents.
If this methodology is put in place, Council will have to raise more money locally or reduce the levels of services currently provided to the community.
'This a significant impact. A reduction in Commonwealth funding of that magnitude cannot simply be absorbed,' said Mayor Chris Hanna.
Whether Council will make a submission and the outcomes Council will be seeking will be discussed at the September Ordinary Council Meeting on Thursday 17 September 2026 in Cooma.
'As the governing body, we need to provide clear direction to staff on the approach we want Council to take with this issue,' said Mayor Hanna.
'While there needs to be equitable distribution of funding, I cannot see how a model that takes funding from councils with small populations spread over large areas and diverts it to large regional population centres can be the answer.'
Limited information is available on the new methodology and why it has resulted in such a change to funding.
Council has requested information on how the new model works from the NSW Local Government Grants Commission, which would allow the question of whether the new approach is justified to be properly assessed.
Councils were advised of the effects of the proposed changes on Friday 4 September 2026. The commission is only giving councils until Friday 9 October 2026 to prepare and lodge their responses - a very short timeframe.
'It is well-known that the amount being provided by the Australian Government to address the fact that it costs more to provide services in rural, remote areas and sparsely populated areas is not sufficient, but this is not the response needed,' said Mayor Hanna.
'If the goal of the NSW Government is to boost the grants to some areas, that can't be at the expense of the many small-population councils being shown as negatively impacted on the commission's website'.
Information on the NSW Local Government Grants Commission's proposal can be found on the Office of Local Government website.
