Frequently Asked Questions Delivery Program & Budget Roadshow Sessions
Message from Federation Council Mayor - Cr Patrick Bourke. Council is very pleased to present to the community this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document to provide responses to all questions submitted via our online registration form for the Delivery Program and Budget Roadshow Sessions as part of the exhibition of the draft 2022/23 and beyond Integrated Planning and Reporting (I P & R) documents. As detailed at the sessions, Council's commitment was to collate all questions and provide responses that could be made available to the entire community, including those residents that missed any of our eight Roadshow and Drop-in Sessions. This is another initiative as Council continues to develop new ways of informing and engaging our many communities. Council considers the following information provides clarity and information to support its financial sustainability journey. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Council through our various communication channels. We thank the community for their engagement thus far and look forward with anticipation to further engagement as we continue our ongoing journey towards a bright and sustainable future in working to achieve the visions and strategic outcomes sought by the Community in the Community Strategic Plan 2022/32. Kind Regards - Federation Council Mayor, Cr Patrick Bourke. Question: Why is Council applying for a Special Rate Variation (SRV)? Answer: The NSW Government has established a framework to limit the total general rates that a council may collect from ratepayers. In summary, from year to year, a Council may only increase the total general rates that it collects by a specified percentage, known as the “rate peg”. In past years the rate peg has been set by at a figure between 0.7% and 2.5%. When a Council seeks to increase its general rates by an amount greater than the rate peg, it is required to follow an extensive analysis and engagement process and apply to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for approval. This is called a Special Rate Variation (SRV). The SRV if approved will provide Council with the greatest ability to maintain the existing 45 services, and increase (over time) existing service levels in key/core service areas such as roads that both the community (road users), Council staff, and the data supports. This SRV will allow Council to respond to increasing community concerns regarding the declining conditions of roads and community infrastructure, by providing increased revenue over time. It will allow Council to respond to risks and be better placed to respond to the increased demands being placed on Council by government, insurers, and other stakeholders. Council’s road network has not kept up over many years with the increasing demands being placed on the roads coupled with a systemic lack of funding. The increasing demands include for rural areas, a move to all year-round freight movements, including a vast increase in both the size of heavy vehicles and the amount of traffic movements. Farmers move grain and livestock off farm and bring inputs into the farms in a year-round basis. Some also have contractual commitments to companies to supply grain and hay for example on set days and times of a month. Council considers it needs to work with these producers to ensure the road network can, where realist, continue to be improved to meet the modern-day agricultural businesses. Council also must think of the safety of the roads for all users, and in particular consider roads used by school buses, and parents taking children to meet buses.
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