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“These deficits are driven by growing residential expectations for services, insufficient funding and in some cases financial mismanagement.” Fowles said her member companies were also being asked more often to shoulder the costs of things like housing, health care and education in councils, which she said amounted to “cost-shifting from the public sector to the private sector”. “This growing dependence on private sector contributions indicates serious financial sustainability concerns for WA’s [local governments],” she said. “These financial issues can cause additional problems such as difficulties attracting and retaining skilled staff, especially when coupled with remoteness and liveability issues. This leaves [local governments] vulnerable to systemic failures of governance, further eroding regional [local government] efficiency and impacting essential service delivery to communities.” Fowles recommended the state consider “boundary adjustments” to remove duplication of staff, service delivery mechanisms and infrastructure and improve the talent pool for councillors and elected staff.
