‘We’re already there’ is what Cardinia CEO Carol Jeffs said before State MPs describing the shire at the epicentre of Victoria’s impending decline in local services if the State Government doesn’t pick up their share of the financial burden.
On Wednesday 25 September, Ms Jeffs and CFO Allison Southwell presented in the Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s look into Local Government funding where they said there is ‘not much more to squeeze out of the lemon’ in the council’s finances and flagged services being ‘rethought and not able to be provided’.
“We are not the only council that is in the same situation, I think the talk that I’m hearing is just how many years before we are in the managed declined state, and we’re already there,” Ms Jeffs said.
“It’s becoming more and more challenging to meet the broad range of requirements for our very diverse community.”
MPs in the hearing heard of how Cardinia Shire has been increasingly burdening the costs and evolving responsibilities of Local Government with the contributions from the State Government lagging behind.
$60 million projected to facilitate free kinder, several million out of pocket from this year’s storm recovery, $15 million for a cybersecurity update ‘not considered optional’ and an almost $200 million shortfall from developer contributions, are among the many issues that have put a bleak shroud over the council’s future budgets.
Ms Jeffs described the ‘managed decline’ over the ‘next four years’, the small, ‘not mandatory’ services that no-less ‘really do support’ Cardinia’s vulnerable residents will have to be ‘rethought and not able to be provided’.
Then there will be ‘thinking’ put toward essential services such as childcare, libraries or maternal and child health.
“After that, it will be thinking about whether or not we can maintain our assets,” Ms Jeffs said.
“For me, that’s the border of the managed decline.”
New works are virtually on hold, Ms Jeff mentioned.
Not very timely news for residents looking for promises this election, compounding a possibly grim outlook for those councillors who will be elected next month.
“It also means no new capital builds, we’ll finish off what we’ve done,” Ms Jeffs said.
“The councillors who are elected after this election are unlikely to be able to promise and deliver capital builds like recreation facilities.
“Other councils have some years or maybe even a decade if they are lucky, but we’re already there.”
An expanded report will appear in the 2 October edition of the Gazette.
