Local government has extensive reporting requirements to a myriad of State Government departments and agencies. Recently however, the State Government has requested that the Essential Services Commission consider additional indicators and reporting requirements for local government.
The draft report from the Essential Services Commission has suggested an additional 65 indicators, which would cost up to an additional $40,000 in Council’s budget.
The Maroondah Journal has reported on the impact these indicators would have on local Government:
Maroondah Mayor Alex Makin said the proposal would “add nothing” to Maroondah in terms of service delivery or extracting the best value from ratepayers’ dollars.
“While Maroondah appreciates the necessity and benefits of compliance, it’s come to a stage where enough is enough, as costs spiral out of control.”
The City of Melbourne in conjunction with Councils across the state has developed an alternative framework to the recommendations made by the Essential Services Commission. Maroondah City Council is currently considering supporting this alternative, as it would provide a measurable and relevant set of indicators for the local government sector.
“If the council is forced to work within the Essential Services Commission’s proposed reported framework then money to enable compliance would have to be sourced from Maroondah’s budget,” Mr Makin said. “These funds could be better directed to providing vital infrastructure projects and services for the Maroondah community.”
It is important that any performance indicators are relevant and measurable across the sector and it is hoped that the Essential Services Commission will revise its recommendations in response to the feedback from local government.