Council was assessed to be fit for purpose and financially sustainable. Council’s finances continue to be in good order, with virtually no debt and revenues from traditional sources sound. It is reasonable to expect that Council would continue to operate on this basis well into the future.

However, there are limited opportunities for discretionary spending. Council’s financial resources are largely devoted to the essentials of local government: roads, rubbish, water and sewer and community services.

The reality is that whilst Council is financially sustainable within current policy, without change there is little room for Council to back significant projects and service level improvements, with the investment many in the community would like to see.

Each of Aberdeen, Merriwa, Murrurundi and Scone have working groups in place to drive town revitalisation projects. The parameters within which these groups are working could be significantly broadened if Council had the additional resources to support larger scale projects, which may include the acquisition of strategically identified land and buildings, large scale heritage restoration programs, or state-of-the-art play and recreation spaces.

Because Council relies heavily on traditional revenue streams including land and water rates, user fees and charges, and low interest bearing term deposits and bank bonds, there is little room to grow those revenues. One means by which Council could do so is to diversify its investment portfolio beyond low interest bearing financial products into investments with higher yielding returns.

Whilst Council is somewhat constrained by legislation on where it can invest, Council could for instance consider establishing a portfolio of commercial building investments. The portfolio could focus on acquiring buildings in the town’s Shires that hold certain heritage values or those that have fallen into disrepair with a view to bringing about their restoration and occupation. The benefits are manifest: the appearance of the streetscape improves; the buildings are occupied; additional economic activity brought into town; and Council’s long term revenues improve.

Council has funds in its internal reserves, potential proceeds from the sale of non-productive land, and its capacity to borrow is very high. Council’s debt position and the price at which it can borrow money means any reasonable commercial return on investment will exceed the costs of servicing the loan.

As Council moves to finalise its Community Strategic Plan it is timely to consider support for a proposal such as this, which will strengthen Council’s financial position and future revenues in particular, and establish a fund that is sustainable and better meets the needs of our communities into the future.