Revenue Strategy Council’s revenue streams are largely determined by the NSW Local Government Act 1993. These streams include rates, fees and charges for particular services, grants and subsidies from higher levels of government, loans taken up by Council, income from interest on invested funds, and occasional revenue from the sale of unwanted assets or business activities. Either directly or indirectly, almost all these revenue streams are regulated in some way. All however, are important to Council and particularly in the context of their capacity to generate additional revenue for increased levels of service or new services. Council’s Revenue Strategy highlights the increasing financial challenges facing Council, identifies the revenue streams available to Council and recommends the following as a means of increasing our revenue base: •
review and monitor Council’s Section 7.11 Development Contribution Plans and Policies
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review Council’s Investment Policy and cash flow processes
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review Council’s Annual Borrowing Policy
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identify and seek additional grant funding
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review all current fees and charges and levels of cost recovery
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review options for introduction of appropriate new fees, in line with industry trends and benchmarking
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identify opportunities to rationalise Council’s asset base
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review Council’s service levels and methods of service delivery
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continue to incorporate discussion of revenue, including levels of rating, into Council’s community strategic planning and engagement processes.
18 MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL
