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Review Today’s Services to Local Government

Review Today’s Services to Local Government. Bob Gaussen Managing Director Review Today Pty Ltd 29 th November 2013 . What does Review Today do?. Review Today does two types of work: Drafting Submissions under the client’s name, and Independent Sustainability Reviews in our name.

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Review Today’s Services to Local Government

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  1. Review Today’s Services to Local Government Bob Gaussen Managing Director Review Today Pty Ltd 29th November 2013

  2. What does Review Today do? • Review Today does two types of work: • Drafting Submissions under the client’s name, and • Independent Sustainability Reviews in our name. Review Today Pty Ltd

  3. Submissions in client’s name • Review Today drafts : • Submissions to the ILGRP (e.g. Woollahra Council, REROC, Urban Taskforce) • Commonwealth Grants Commission Review Today Pty Ltd

  4. Submissions in client’s name • Review Today drafts : • Special Rate Variation Submissions to IPART (e.g. Woollahra Council) Review Today Pty Ltd

  5. Independent Reviews in our name • Review Today does major financial sustainability reviews (e.g. 8 Regional Councils) Review Today Pty Ltd

  6. What does council financial sustainability mean? Review Today Pty Ltd

  7. What does council financial sustainability mean? • Financial Sustainability Goalposts: • > 2.5% Surplus Ratio • < 60% Net Debt Ratio • No Infrastructure Backlog Review Today Pty Ltd

  8. What does a Review do? • It gauges the condition of Council’s infrastructure including the size of any backlog. • It establishes Councils infrastructure enhancement (i.e. expansion) needs • It estimates the required infrastructure renewals for each of the next twenty years. • It calculates Councils required maintenance needs over the same period. • It sums up Council’s total infrastructure requirements for the next two decades. Review Today Pty Ltd

  9. What does a Review do? • It projects council’s total (non-infrastructure) service requirements for each of the next ten years. • It projects council’s likely revenue streams for that period. • It sets goalposts for financial, service, infrastructure and ratepayer affordability outcomes. • It tests which combinations of revenue raising and service and infrastructure spending meet these goals. • It identifies the revenue and spending strategy that best achieves the desired goals with the least disruption to the community (i.e. political pain). Review Today Pty Ltd

  10. Who do we involve? • The General Manager • The Senior Management team (e.g. Chief Engineer, CFO, Corporate Planner, etc) and staff. • Review Today, GHD and TreEnt. • The Councillors • Public interest groups • The General Public • The local State and Federal MPs • The Minister for Local Government (after Review) Review Today Pty Ltd

  11. Independent Reviews in our name • Review Today does desktop financial sustainability reviews (e.g. 2 regional and 18 metropolitan councils) Review Today Pty Ltd

  12. Who are our clients? • Councils • Armidale, Botany Bay, Bega, Burwood, Canada Bay, Coolamon, Dubbo, Hawthorn, Hornsby, Hills, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Great Lakes, Greater Taree, Kogarah, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Leichhardt, Newcastle, Mosman, North Sydney, Randwick, Rockdale, Ryde, Strathfield, Sutherland, Uralla, Warringah, Woollahra and Wollongong. • Others • Alliance of Sydney Metropolitan Councils • To Commonwealth Grants Commission re position of Councils receiving “minimum” financial assistance grants • Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils • Urban Taskforce • To raise level of debate on possible new structures of local government in NSW

  13. What are the benefits? The Review Today methodology is unique, well trialed and cost effective. No-one else in Australia offers such an integrated solution. It assists Council to achieve consensus between councillors and management on the nature, extent and possible solutions to a problem. It merges the different professions of a council (e.g. engineering, finance, treasury, corporate planning, etc) to produce consistent data for policy analysis. Review Today Pty Ltd 13

  14. What are the benefits? • Management learns a common approach and terminology to evaluating councils sustainability. • Councillors get to understand the challenges and choices of achieving sustainability. • Community groups are forced to debate the trade-offs needed to achieve sustainability. • State government can be submitted a convincing business case for change. Review Today Pty Ltd

  15. What are the benefits? It enables a council to prepare a convincing business case for any rate rises or extra borrowings should this need be established. The technical excellence of the reports means they can withstand the critical scrutiny of the community, IPART, ILGRP, CGC and other government bodies. The credentials of the consultants (Review Today, GHD, and TreEnt) lend credibility to the results. Review Today Pty Ltd 15

  16. Don’t wait for Godot! • Don’t wait on Governments to force amalgamations. • Councils should develop their own business cases to persuade both their communities and the Minister what needs to be done. Review Today Pty Ltd

  17. Review Today’s contact details • Review Today Pty Ltd Mona Vale Business Centre www.reviewtoday.com.au 1800 500 035 • Bob Gaussen Managing Director gaussen@reviewtoday.com.au 04 1912 2255 Review Today Pty Ltd

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