Tamworth Regional Council claims to 'no longer' be facing deficit, votes to explore revenue raising taskforce

The taskforce idea was originally put forward by councillor Brooke Southwell, but sparked plenty of discussion around the state of council's finances.

Cr Bede Burke said while it may not have been the intention, the taskforce could bring "negative" attention to council.

"I think that the community could unintentionally be drawn to think that there's other things that we're not doing as a council, that we are doing, and are doing very well in terms of our revenue generation," he said.

Cr Burke moved an amendment to request a workshop to determine the need for the taskforce and discuss its terms of reference, a move which was supported by fellow councillors, with the exception of Cr Southwell and Cr Marc Sutherland.

Cr Southwell said she would have preferred to have moved on with the taskforce without the need of a workshop.

She said council was facing significant financial challenges, particularly due to the impacts of COVID-19, cost shifting by the state government, rate capping that is less than inflation and the requirement to replace assets with up-to-date modern infrastructure.

"What council is currently doing is absolutely fantastic in terms of revenue generation... but we can always do more," she said.

"I think there is a strong need for this. We need a dedicated team that looks at best practice revenue streams throughout Australia and the world."

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Cr Burke also made the point that council's financial bottom line had improved over the past few months.

In a statement sent to the Leader, TRC general manager Paul Bennett said the council is no longer facing a $3.2 million deficit.

"While it is true council was facing a deficit in March, a number of elements have since improved councils position," he said.

"There have been further savings and efficiencies made internally and this has been assisted by an increase in the now anticipated return on council's investments.

"In addition, the NSW Government has committed to making a contribution to the Emergency Services Levy, which amounts to $400,000 for our council.

"And, with the rates increase we expect to receive as a result of our application for the Additional Special Variation, our budget for 2022-23 will have a small cash surplus."

Cr Phil Betts said it's imperative and council owes it to the community to do everything they possibly can to look at additional revenue sources.

"We're moving into some very challenging economic times for the whole nation and the world and I think if we had a workshop on it to have a look at the need and move forward with a properly balanced strategy, that's got to be the way that we go," he said.

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