{"id":212420,"date":"2018-06-27T23:27:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T13:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=212420"},"modified":"2020-07-30T16:19:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T06:19:05","slug":"early-fags-fillip-for-councils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/06\/27\/early-fags-fillip-for-councils\/","title":{"rendered":"Early FAGs Fillip For Councils"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting FAGs grant money early doesn\u2019t necessarily mean projects can start any earlier if works programs have been tightly scheduled … but it does mean the extra cash can be put to work earning interest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 27, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Councils will have the opportunity to start projects earlier than planned or earn some extra interest income after the Federal Government announced it will pay half of its 2018-19 Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) early this year.<\/p>\n

FAGs grants are one of the major annual sources of revenue for all Australian councils, and are usually paid in quarterly instalments each August, November, February and May.<\/p>\n

But on Wednesday, Federal Local Government Minister Dr John McVeigh announced the government was paying half the 2018-19 FAGs grants early.<\/p>\n

“This early cash injection of more than $1.2 billion will allow councils to start work straight away on new projects and to benefit from additional interest on cash in the bank,” Dr McVeigh said.<\/p>\n

“These vital funds support local government to deliver the infrastructure and services communities need, such as critical transport, health, recreation, environmental and employment projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr McVeigh said supporting local councils to provide essential services to Australians was a key priority for the government.<\/p>\n

“We recognise the importance of giving councils the power to determine local priorities in their region,” Dr McVeigh said.<\/p>\n

“Under the FAGs program, Australia\u2019s 546 councils have access to untied funds to allow them to spend the money according to local needs.”<\/p>\n

FAGs grants have been a sore point with the South Burnett Regional Council for the past six years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, the South Burnett’s FAGs funding was unexpectedly cut by $1.4 million, which threw the council into financial turmoil and directly led to the introduction of the former $200 a year Road Levy.<\/p>\n

In 2014-15, the Federal Government added to the problem by introducing a three-year freeze on the indexation of FAGs grants, which South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell has estimated cost the region a further $2.8 million.<\/p>\n

The indexation freeze was lifted in last year’s Federal Budget, but the South Burnett’s share of FAGs funding dropped again from $6.815 million to $6.730 million in 2017-18.<\/p>\n

At Monday’s annual Budget meeting, the Council reported it expected a 1 per cent increase in FAGs funding for 2018-19.<\/p>\n

It was budgeting to receive $6.798 million, but on Thursday it was announced the Federal Government will provide $6.991 million in the coming year.<\/p>\n

Receiving the money earlier than planned could allow the Council to start some projects ahead of time.<\/p>\n

Alternately, it could put the money to work earning interest until scheduled projects were ready to begin.<\/p>\n

Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council will be in a similar position, though with much less funding since FAGs is partly calculated on per-capita basis.<\/p>\n

Cherbourg’s FAGs grant last year was $618,268. This year it will receive $642,474.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Councils will have the opportunity to start projects earlier than planned or earn some extra interest income after the Federal Government announced it will pay half of its 2018-19 Financial Assistance Grants early this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEarly FAGs Fillip For Councils - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Councils will have the opportunity to start projects earlier than planned or earn some extra interest income after the Federal Government announced it will pay half of its 2018-19 Financial Assistance Grants early this year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/06\/27\/early-fags-fillip-for-councils\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early FAGs Fillip For Councils - 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