December 5, 2013
The South Burnett Regional Council met with the Queensland Local Government Grants Commission today in Kingaroy to argue the case for a larger allocation of funding to the region.
The Commission is responsible for distributing Federal Government monies to local councils.
“We took the opportunity to explain to the Grants Commission why the current methodology used to calculate the funding does not take into account some key aspects that affect this region,” Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said.
Council engaged a consultant to argue its case.
Director of Orion Consulting Network, David Spearritt, presented the key factors that needed to be taken into account when determining the funds allocated to the region.
These included:
- The cost of Yarraman and Cherbourg residents using South Burnett Regional Council facilities
- The effect of the downturn in the coal mining industry and its effect on the South Burnett
“We explained that we have two residential areas, Cherbourg and Yarraman, that are geographically a part of the region yet are not part of our rate base and not used to calculate funding of our region, yet these townships use Council’s facilities due to their position,” Mayor Kratzmann said.
“We have Yarraman which is only 15 minutes to Nanango and 35 minutes to Kingaroy. These Toowoomba Regional Council residents often use South Burnett services and facilities rather than driving 1.5 hours to their Council services in Toowoomba.”
The Queensland Local Government Grants Commission is visiting councils to listen to the unique circumstances experienced by each region and to research the effects any future changes to funding methodologies may have on regions.
“The primary role of the Queensland Local Government Grants Commission is to distribute the annual Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grant equitably among Queensland’s 73 councils,” Queensland Local Government Grants Commission chair Lyn McLaughlin said.
“Federal funds go directly to Council and the administration costs of the Grants Commission is funded by the State Government.
“Our meeting with the South Burnett Regional Council was very positive. We will be visiting Cherbourg and Gympie tomorrow.”
Mrs McLaughlin was accompanied by Commission members Brendan McNamara, John Rauber, Joy Leishman and Kevin Wormald; Department of Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience Director of Finance and Funding Bill Gilmore; and Principal Project Officer Michael Meehan.
The Grants Commission will allocate $446 million of Financial Assistance Grant monies to Queensland councils for the 2013-14 year.
This will be broken into two parts:
- $316 million as General Purpose Grants
- $130 million as Identified Road Grants
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