Waste Charges and Financial Sustainability – Survey Results and Commentary

Recently the State Government issued Bulletin 23/2023 (2024-25 Rate Cap and release of Minister’s Good Practice Guidelines for service rates and charges).  The sector expected the announcement of the rate cap (although was disappointed with the value), but the issue of the guidelines, to take effect on the 1 March 2024, was a surprise.

While FinPro was consulted on the proposal of the guidelines, we were unable to engage more broadly with councils due to confidentiality provisions.  FinPro made it clear to Local Government Victoria during the consultation that we consider some of these provisions were inappropriate, counter-productive and would have significant impact on the financial position of many Councils, potentially reducing essential services, and make it more difficult for the state to reach waste reduction and circular economy targets over coming years.

Recently FinPro conducted a survey to provide sector-wide data following the released guidelines.  In particular, we were interested in determining how many Councils might be impacted by implementing the waste guidelines.  Our survey results estimates that there is potential for 80% of Councils to be financial impacted by the new guidelines.

We thank our members for completing the survey, and the attached survey results provide a summary of the analysis and FinPro proposed action to continue advocacy for our members and the long-term financial sustainability of the Local Government sector.

Please reach out to our Executive if you have any questions or comments.