Draft Delivery Program 2022-26, Operational Plan & Budget

Administrative amendments to Fees & Charges 2022/23

In late 2022, Council proposed administrative amendments to its schedule of Fees & Charges for the 2022/23 Financial Year.

The Fees & Charges were initially adopted in July 2022 as part of Council’s Delivery Program & Operational Plan and commenced from 1 August 2022.

The changes affect two charges under Development and Traffic Services.

Reintroduction of fees for Advertising and/or Notification of a Development Application

Council charges a modest fee to recover costs incurred for development application notifications, such as postage

These fees were in place until July 2022, but did not appear in the latest Fees & Charges adopted by Council due to an administrative error.

Council proposed to reinstate the following fees:

Clarified fee structure for some Modifications of a Consent – EP&A REG Schedule 4 Part 6 items 6.1-6.9

The fees adopted in 2022 for ­­ Modifications of a Consent listed an incorrect charging structure of “7.54 Fee Units”. This is a statutory fee set by the NSW Department of Planning & Environment and the fee charge associated with b. under the Act, section 4.56(1) that involves, in the consent authority’s opinion, minimal environmental impact, was erroneously omitted. The fee charge for this item should read “50% fee for original application” to mirror the fee charge stipulated under schedule 4 “modification application” of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021.

Therefore, Council proposed to amend this structure to “Lesser of — a) 7.54 fee units, or b) 50% fee for original application”, as follows:

How can I find out more?

The proposed amended fees can be viewed in Section 9 of the draft amended Fees & Charges 2022/23 in the Resources section of this page.

Enquiries can be sent to CorporateStrategy@cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au, who will forward your query to the relevant team/s in Council.

Public exhibition has now concluded

Submissions closed at 5pm on Wednesday 17 November 2022.

Two submissions were provided in response to public exhibition of the Administrative Amendment to Fees and Charges 2022/23. Both responses were positive towards the amendments.

Submission 1:

Do you support the Administrative Amendment to the Fees & Charges 2022/23 as exhibited by Council?

Yes

Please provide a reason for your answer.

The fees for these services seem to be cost recovery and not just capricious money grabbing.

Submission 2:

Do you support the Administrative Amendment to the Fees & Charges 2022/23 as exhibited by Council?

Yes

Please provide a reason for your answer.

Great job. Keep going

A report will be tabled to Council on the outcomes of the public exhibition of Administrative Amendments to Fees and Charges 2022/23 in early December 2022.

To keep updated, please follow this page!

Following the review of community feedback, the draft Delivery Program 2022-26, Operational Plan & Budget 2022/23 was provided to Council for endorsement at the 25 July 2022 Council meeting.

Council has endorsed its Operational Plan and Budget for 2022/23, with $209 million allocated for capital works projects, on top of the $311.4 million to be spent delivering vital services to the community. Community projects include $33.9 million for the Parramatta Aquatic Centre; $15.8 million for revitalisation of the Town Hall and $6.7 million for upgrades to Charles Street Square.

Delivery Program 2022-26 and Operational Plan 2022/23

Council’s Delivery Program details its proposed activities for the four financial years from 2022/23 to 2025/26. It aligns with and helps to realise the vision and directions of the draft refreshed Community Strategic Plan 2018-2038 (CSP).

The Delivery Program includes an Operational Plan & Budget for the 2022/23 financial year, which outlines the specific services, projects, performance indicators and financial details for the next one (1) to four (4) years.

Council reviews these plans every year to ensure the programs and projects are on track and aligned to CSP priority goals.

The draft Delivery Program, Operational Plan & Budget ('DPOP') and summary versions are available in the Resources section of this page.

Budget 2022/23

> Budget Snapshot

Council has budgeted for more than $519 million in operating and capital expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year.

This will fund the broad range of services and projects listed in the DPOP, and includes a strong program of capital works for the year.

For every $100 spent by Council in 2022/23, Council will spend:

> Rating Structures

The draft Budget includes proposed rating structures for 2022/23 for all rateable properties (residential and business). Rates and charges are Council’s main source of recurrent income, and are used to maintain infrastructure and deliver services and facilities to the community.

Council typically increases its rates by a small amount each year, to cover increasing costs of delivery. Limits to annual rate increases are determined by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), setting the maximum general income Council can collect from ordinary rates.

> Changes to IPART rating methodology

After a change to the methodology used by IPART to calculate annual rate increases, City of Parramatta's general rates income has been pegged to a maximum increase of 0.7% in 2022/23. This is far lower than the previous 10-year period, where Council has received increases between 1.5% and 3.6%.

IPART has since agreed to review its rate peg methodology, and in the interim IPART will accept and process an additional round of Additional Special Variation (ASV) applications from impacted councils.

Council has submitted an application for an ASV that would see rates increase by 2.5% for the 2022/23 year if approved, with the additional income to be permanently added to Council's rating base. This allows Council to keep up with rising delivery costs, and is in line with previous annual increases.

You can read more about the draft Budget in the Resources section of this page.

Fees & Charges 2022/23

Council's Fees & Charges 2022/23 outline a range of updated Fees & Charges proposed for Council services, and can be found in the Resources section of this page.

On Monday 23 May 2022, Council resolved to extend Council's existing schedule of Fees & Charges for the 2021/22 Financial Year to 31 July 2022.

As a result, the new Fees & Charges commenced on 1 August 2022.

Long-Term Financial Plan 2022-32

To guide the DPOP, Council has also prepared a draft 10-year Long-Term Financial Plan 2022-32 (LTFP) as part of its Resourcing Strategy. The LTFP informs decision-making over the long term, and helps ensure Council can continue delivering its broad range of services and projects in a financially sustainable way.

Public exhibition (concluded)

Council invited community feedback on the Draft Delivery Program 2022-26, Operational Plan & Budget 2022/23, and Long Term Financial Plan 2022-32 as part of a public exhibition period.

The community were provided with the following opportunities to get involved:

• Completing an online survey via Participate Parramatta
• Submitting a formal submission via email or post

The feedback opportunity concluded at 5pm on Wednesday 22 June 2022.

The draft Budget details Council’s funding for projects and services, forecast financial position, and proposed rates, fees and charges for the year.

It includes more than $610 million in funding for Council services and projects in the 2023/24 Financial Year.

The draft Budget can be viewed in the Resources section.

Rates can fluctuate annually, and are calculated on a combination of factors. These include the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) rate pegging, which sets the maximum increases Council can apply, and changes in land values reported by the NSW Valuer General to Council.

For the 2023/24 year, IPART has set the rate peg to 3.7%, which is reflected in this draft budget.

It is important to note that the rate peg increase authorised by IPART applies to Council’s overall income from rates, and not individual ratepayers’ rates. Individual rates are influenced by individual factors, such as land valuations conducted by the NSW Valuer General.

Consequently, rates for individuals may deviate more or less than the approved percentage, depending on how land valuation changes relative to other ratepayers’ land values in a given year.

To guide the Delivery Program, Operational Plan and Budget, Council is also required to prepare a Long-Term Financial Plan (LTFP) for a minimum ten year period as part of its Resourcing Strategy. The LTFP is reviewed annually.

The LTFP outlines Council's plan to maintain quality service delivery and sustainable financial management over the next ten years.

The full Resourcing Strategy will be presented to Council for endorsement in June 2023 in line with requirements under the Act.

The Delivery Program is Council’s commitment to the community on what it will deliver during its elected term. It outlines the actions Council will undertake to achieve the long term goals in the Community Strategic Plan.

All councils in NSW are required to develop a new four-year Delivery Program following each council election.

The Operational Plan & Budget outlines details of the key services and projects Council will deliver and fund in the 2023/24 Financial Year.

Your feedback will be used to inform final changes made to the proposed projects, services, budgets, fees and charges in the draft plans.

Community feedback will be presented to Councillors and considered before the adoption of the plans.