NSW councils' operating costs have risen eleven-fold in the past 30 years, while capital expenditure has only doubled in that period, a report by former Treasury head Percy Allan for the Urban Taskforce reveals.
It is recommending to the government's independent local government review that a system similar to that used in parts of the US and the Hunter - where shared services could be spread across councils to cut down on costs - be introduced to NSW.
The Urban Taskforce is pushing the model because it knows the Premier will baulk at amalgamations - which are backed by Infrastructure NSW chair Nick Greiner.
Shared services could save tens of millions of dollars and would mean local communities would not lose their local political representatives.
The local government review panel, which has been given a year to come up with proposals on how to reform local government, said yesterday it would seriously consider a shared services centre proposal.
Urban Taskforce chief executive Chris Johnson said he believed groups of 10 councils could be formed, which could share 90 per cent of their services, including planning, rubbish and administration. A recent study found 37 of the 100 largest councils in NSW were "financially unsustainable" and most councils had a "huge backlog of infrastructure" including roads, stormwater drains and buildings in an unsatisfactory condition.
"The ideal role model is Lakewood County in California which, in the 1950s, adopted a contract model for delivering its services that proved so successful that it was replicated by many other local government authorities in California and the rest of the United States," the Urban Taskforce report says.
On a smaller basis, the Hunter Regional Organisation of councils has produced a shared service centre with a staff of 25 and an annual income of $25 million. The Taskforce suggests councils on the Parramatta Rd corridor including Parramatta, Auburn, Strathfield, Canada Bay, Burwood, Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville could embark on a shared services centre.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Andrew Clennell
Quelle/Source: Herald Sun, 11.09.2012
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
