News



All Articles


Shared services - the real benefits

December 2016

Shared Services are about building capacity and service sustainability for greater customer satisfaction.As we know, local government faces a continuing challenge to find ways to improve their organis...

Read More


Victoria - Rates Capping

December 2016

The Victorian rate capping environment is going to force considerable changes in the way councils plan and operate.In December 2015 the Victorian State Government passed a law that caps the amount tha...

Read More


Sustainability implications of the 1.5% rate peg

December 2016

With the recent announcement of the 2017/18 rate peg increase of 1.5%, most councils must be wondering how they can remain sustainable given increased community demand and the greater increase in cost...

Read More


The potential impact of proposed NSW rating changes

December 2016

IPART delivers its final recommendations to the minister this month (December). The draft report proposed a number of changes designed to give councils more flexibility, and the proposals, if implemen...

Read More


Determining agreed service levels

December 2016

One of the required changes to infrastructure reporting in Special Schedule 7 is a new ratio, the cost to bring assets to an agreed service level. The inclusion of this ratio is mandatory in the Finan...

Read More


All in or all out – the waste services dilemma facing those in the middle

November 2016

Presenter:  Ewen Skinner & Alice GracePresentation title:   All in or all out – the waste services dilemma facing those in the middleEvent: WasteMINZ Conference 2016Date: Tuesday 18 OctoberSession: Pl...

Read More


Central government and local government collaboration critical to infrastructure planning

November 2016

New Zealand’s National Infrastructure Unit of The Treasury recently announced updates on infrastructure plans including the National State of Infrastructure Report 2016. Two key themes are:1. Central ...

Read More


Considering Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades

October 2016

National Policy Statements (NPSs) are issued by the Government to provide direction to local government about matters of national significance. The introduction of the NPS for Freshwater Management 20...

Read More


Section 17A service reviews – what we have learned…

October 2016

In August we passed the 12 month countdown for when the first round of Section 17A service delivery reviews are required to be completed under the Local Government Act…how on track are you?

Read More


Closed landfill provisions – will you be setting aside the right amount?

October 2016

As part of their long term budgeting processes, councils decide how much money to put aside for the monitoring and maintenance of their closed landfills. This money is accounted for as a provision in ...

Read More