Annual report 2010 - 2011, Northern Territory Grants Commission
Northern Territory Grants Commission reports; Reports; PublicationNT
2011-10
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2011-10
English
Northern Territory Grants Commission -- Periodicals; Local government -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Local finance -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Grants-in-aid -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Revenue sharing -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals
Northern Territory Grants Commissions
Darwin
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/247588
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/575435
Annual Report N O R TH ER N TER R ITO R Y G R A N TS CO M M ISSIO N 19 CHAIRMANS LETTER Ms Malarndirri McCarthy MLA Minister for Local Government GPO Box 3146 DARWIN NT 0801 Dear Minister I have recently received advice on the amounts available for allocation as financial assistance grants under the Commonwealths Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 for the 2011-12 financial year. In accordance with this advice and section 12(1)(a) of the Local Government Grants Commission Act, I am now pleased to present to you the Commissions recommendations for the distribution of these grants. In making the recommendations, I confirm that: (a) all general purpose recommendations conform with section 6(2)(b) of the Commonwealths Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 in allocating amounts that are not less than those to which local governing bodies would be eligible to receive if 30% of the total to which the Northern Territory is entitled was distributed among local governing bodies on a per capita basis; (b) the Commission held public hearings and permitted local governing bodies and the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory to make submissions in connection with the recommendations in accordance with section 11(2)(c)(i) & (ii) of the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995; (c) road funds were divided on weighted road length but, in addition, continued to include a base or minimum figure of $10 000 for all councils on the basis that a derived figure of less than this amount would not be commensurate with a realistic acceptance of road maintenance and responsibility; and (d) the allocations comply with section 12(1)(a) of the Local Government Grants Commission Act in that the total amount of all money recommended to be allocated is equal to the amount of money provided to the Territory under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 for the 2011-12 financial year. The Recommendation Schedule (Attachment A) outlines the proposed grant allocations for approval by Minister Crean. The Recommendation Schedule comprises the estimated entitlement for 2011-12 minus the advance stimulus payment already made in 2010-11, the cash adjustment for 2010-11 and the proposed grant recommendations. Estimated Entitlement The Commonwealth allocates the local road and general purpose grants based on an estimated population figure and an estimated CPI growth factor for the coming year as determined by the Australian Statistician. This calculation is what is known as the estimated entitlement. The amounts for this year are $15 494 286 and $15 262 770 respectively. Cash Adjustment This is the distribution of the underpayment of the grants in 2010-11. The underpayments were $69 981 (general purpose) and $47 837 (local roads) respectively. underpayments (or sometimes overpayments) occur when the growth factors used in determining the estimated entitlement are less than or greater than the actual growth factors. The revised methodology continues its trend in directing money from the bitumen to the bush as well as reducing the grants to the small councils in the Top End. It should be noted that there are again significant losses to be incurred by the katherine and Alice Springs Councils. These losses will be $34 781, and $115 005 respectively. Commissioner Ryan (Mayor of Alice Springs and the municipal representative on the Commission) had great difficulty in supporting the recommendations given the significant losses again being experienced by the katherine and Alice Springs councils.