The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has invited community comment on its proposal to charge Councils for local government election services provided by the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC).
The Tribunal has released a draft report recommending the Councils pay $2.6 million to NSWEC for the upcoming 2020 elections.
IPART said that if its draft recommendations were adopted Councils that use the NSWEC next year may pay an average 62 per cent more than they did when Council elections were held in 2016 and 2017.
IPART Chair Paul Paterson said the introduction of cost-reflective pricing would change the allocation of costs between Councils to better reflect the actual costs of providing services.
“IPART is recommending that for the 2020 elections, Councils, rather than NSW taxpayers, pay the full efficient costs of the election services they receive,” Dr Paterson said.
“Cost-reflective prices would also help to ensure the NSWEC’s costs of administering local government elections are transparent and subject to appropriate scrutiny.”
He said the proposed changes would encourage greater competition in the provision of election services.
IPART has also recommended supporting reforms that would give Councils more choice in how they obtain the election services they need.
“Councils have had the option of using private providers since 2011 and can also choose to administer their own elections,” Dr Paterson said.
“Despite this, most Councils continue to opt for the services provided by the NSWEC as taxpayer subsidies make it difficult for alternative existing and potential election service providers to compete.”
IPART’s 79-page draft report can be accessed at this PS News link.
