Temora Shire Council has completed its formal community consultation on the proposed Special Rate Variation (SRV), with 659 people taking the time to share their views on the future of the shire. The consultation forms part of council’s broader work to strengthen the long-term financial sustainability of Temora Shire and ensure council can continue to sustainably deliver services and maintain community infrastructure into the future. Like many local governments across NSW, Temora Shire Council is facing increasing financial pressures that are making it more challenging to sustainably fund services and maintain community infrastructure. Rising costs, reduced grant funding, the increasing cost of delivering services and the ongoing impacts of cost shifting from other levels of government are contributing to these pressures. Over recent years, council has undertaken significant work to strengthen its long-term financial position, improve efficiency and productivity, review services and expenditure, strengthen financial and asset planning, and advocate for better funding. Council has also continued to improve transparency and engage with the community about its financial future. This work continues as council explores options to ensure it can sustainably deliver services and infrastructure into the future. The proposed SRV is one of the options being considered as part of this broader work. Council’s formal consultation provided the community with information about council’s financial position, the factors contributing to its financial challenges and a range of options for addressing those challenges. Feedback was received through a range of channels, including council’s formal survey, individually written submissions, templated submissions and a separately administered third-party survey. Council’s formal survey received 382 responses. Of those, 19.9 per cent were supportive of council applying for an SRV, 14.9 per cent were somewhat supportive and 65.2 per cent were opposed. Council also received 88 individually written submissions and 23 templated submissions, providing a range of views and perspectives on the proposal. A separately administered third-party survey received 278 responses, of which 96 per cent were opposed to the proposal. Temora Shire Council mayor Rick Firman said the consultation had provided council with a clear understanding of the concerns held within the community, while also highlighting different views about how Temora Shire should respond to its financial challenges. “Most of the people who took part in the consultation told us they do not support a rate variation at the levels put forward,” Cr Firman said. “We heard strong concerns about affordability, particularly from our farming community, along with concerns about council’s efficiency, the services we provide and the size of the proposed increases. “We have also heard from people who are open to a different approach — a smaller increase, a longer timeframe, or a different way of sharing the impact. “Those views are important and councillors will need to consider them carefully as we work through the options available to council.” The consultation also showed that people understood what was being proposed. Among those who completed council’s survey, 83.8per cent understood why an SRV was being considered, 92.9 per cent understood the size of the proposed increases and 96.3 per cent understood the potential impact on their own rates. The scenarios presented for consultation were all expressed as cumulative increases over three years, including the forecast rate peg. They ranged from a cumulative increase of 10.87 per cent under the base case of the forecast rate peg only, to 79.40 per cent, 101.25 per cent and 124.25 per cent under the three SRV scenarios. Cr Firman said the feedback would be an important consideration as council works through the options available, alongside its financial sustainability and legislative responsibilities. “Council has a responsibility to listen to what our shire community is telling us, but we also have a responsibility to make sure Temora Shire Council remains financially sustainable and can continue to provide services and maintain the infrastructure our community relies on,” Cr Firman said. “We need to consider the feedback we have received alongside the financial information available to us, the work Council has already undertaken and our responsibilities as a local government. “This is not simply about one decision or one financial year. We need to look carefully at what the future looks like for Temora Shire and what options are available to us.” What happens next? The Securing Our Future: Community Engagement Report brings together the feedback received across the different consultation channels and will be considered by the Assets and Operations Committee on 9 September. The committee will be asked to recommend that council receive and note the report. The report will then be considered at the 17 September council meeting, where council will again be asked to receive and note the report. No decision on whether to apply for a SRV will be made at the September council meeting. Cr Firman said the period between the September and November meetings would allow councillors to carefully consider the engagement findings alongside the financial information available to council. “The September meeting is another step in this process, not the point at which a decision will be made on an SRV. Councillors will have time between the September and November meetings to work through the engagement report, all of the feedback we have received and the financial modelling and information available to us,” he said. “Most importantly, we will keep communicating with our Shire community and we will keep listening. The formal consultation may have closed, but the conversation has not.” “Securing the future of Temora Shire is something we need to work on together. This is unknown territory for all of us. Councillors and staff are doing our best to navigate this process, and we will continue to do so.” “However, it is incumbent on all of us to play our part in ensuring Temora Shire has a strong present and a strong future. We are confident that, by continuing to listen, work together and carefully consider the options before us, council and our community will ultimately land in the right place for Temora Shire.” A decision on whether to proceed with an application to the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is expected to be considered at the November 2026 council meeting. In the meantime, council will continue to provide clear and accessible information about the process, its financial position and the matters being considered, while responding to the issues raised during the consultation. The Securing Our Future: Community Engagement Report is now available at www.temora.nsw.gov.au/Your-Council/Financial-Sustainability. Full written submissions have also been provided to councillors as a separate attachment for consideration. Council is committed to a transparent, structured and community-informed process as it works to secure the long-term financial sustainability of Temora Shire. Temora Shire Council
