A federal freeze on indexation of financial assistance grants means Wyndham council will miss out on about $2 million funding next financial year.
The recent federal budget included a continuing hold on indexation for financial assistance grants, which are given to councils to fund infrastructure and services such as roads, libraries and child care.
Wyndham council corporate services director Steven Lambert said:
“In 2014-15, Wyndham City received $14.12 million in financial assistance grants. In 2015-16 we’ll get $14.54 million and in 2016-17 we expect to get $14.97 million.
“If the indexation had not been frozen, Wyndham would have received $14.66 million in 2014-15, $15.77 million in 2015-16 and $17.01 million in 2016-17.”
Mr Lambert said that “in real per capita terms”, there had been a 15 per cent federal funding decrease over the past eight years.
“The lack of grant funding in a growth area such as Wyndham has significant impacts in terms of our capacity to deliver services and vital infrastructure,” he said.
“Money has to come from somewhere and decreasing federal government assistance simply means ratepayer funds are having to be stretched further.”
Lalor MP Joanne Ryan said continuing the indexation freeze meant less money was being spent on local infrastructure.
