Fix the Drains and Secure the Ramparts

Mosman Council recently called a public meeting to explain its plans to increase rates permanently by up to 10%.  There was suspicion that the proposed rate increases were in some way related to Mosman Council campaign against amalgamation.

drains feature highly in Mosman's future 

I was not looking forward to this meeting, imagining a gathering of fellow grey haired residents combing over endless columns of numbers and inspecting kilometres  of dilapidate drains.

Fortunately the Mayor's introduction was brief and to the point. He said the rate application was being done now ‘to get clear of any election’ and to ‘maintain independence’.

One of the rate increase options proposes a lesser increase of 5%, it is designed to replace an existing 5% Community Environmental Contract. The Mayor said ‘we can live with that’ ‘we are in pretty good shape anyhow’, ‘without the threat there would not be the will to go for extra 5%'.

One of the Councillors offered an assessment that we had a 50% chance of stopping amalgamations if the higher rates were approved.  He said ‘get ramparts secure, then we can make any argument we like’.

Mosman's iconic ramparts

At which stage the General Manager interjected to explain that the 'bureaucratic' reason for the rate increases was that 'the additional funds were needed to increase service levels particularly infrastructure renewal and maintenance and to achieve operating surpluses over the next 10 years.'

In response to a question about whether efficiencies could be gained from scale, a councillor said ‘resource sharing across councils in NSW had been pathetic and he hoped that when the amalgamation threat passes, it will trigger better resource sharing.  Someone rightly suggested mergers would solve this problem.

The event ended with a call for a round of applause for the staff and councillors.  The meeting was attended by 6 councillors, 6 council staff and 14 residents.

The suspect motives turned out to be well founded,  Mosman Council is looking to permanently increase rates beyond what is necessary to bolster its ‘fit for the future assessment’ all in the name of ‘An Independent Mosman’.

In the meantime the Government has released its Fit For the Future Templates.
The thresh hold issue is Scale and Capacity. Financial sustainability measures will only be assessed once this question has been answered.

Screenshot from guidelines

To read more see the guidelines for Fit For The Future.
http://www.fitforthefuture.nsw.gov.au/content/just-released-%E2%80%93-council-self-assessment-tool-templates-and-guidance