FINANCE POLICY
Finance is an important tool for shaping society, the economy and built environment. The Greens are committed to reforming the City of Melbourne’s finances to achieve prosperity and justice for all and a sustainable present and future.
| Principles | ||
| 1 | The major financial priority for the City of Melbourne is to plan for our changing population in a changing climate, by addressing the increasing funding gap between business-as-usual revenue and the infrastructure and services required to cater for the City’s future climate and populations. | |
| 2 | Council must broaden its revenue base beyond its high reliance on rates and parking revenue. | |
| 3 | Council must measure and manage the socioeconomic impacts of its rating and revenue strategies. | |
| 4 | Service provision is a primary function of Council. | |
| 5 | Council must do more to empower the community to determine expenditure priorities. | |
| 6 | Council must ensure that its expenditure is not only efficient, but also effective in promoting a green, just and prosperous city. | |
| 7 | Debt financing is an appropriate and effective means of meeting the infrastructure demands of a growing population, including infrastructure that mitigates and adapts to climate change. | |
Aims | ||
| 1 | Use deliberative democracy and community co-design to determine long-term financial plans and priorities. | |
| 2 | Lobby for restoration of State and Federal grant programs and resist cost shifting onto Local Government. | |
| 3 | Ensure that no Council policies or practices inhibit staff from unionising and collectively bargaining. | |
| 4 | Mandate triple bottom-line reporting on Council projects and services to ensure transparent accounting of Council’s financial, environmental and social impacts. | |
Aims: Revenue | ||
| 5 | Lift revenue from Development Contributions schemes to a level approaching that in Sydney and Brisbane, in order to ensure adequate community infrastructure for forecast populations. | |
| 6 | Pursue differential rates and more flexible rating mechanisms where these can provide more equitable outcomes. | |
| 7 | Generate greater revenue from private transportation to and from the CBD, in line with transport policies to reduce congestion and emissions and improve public safety. | |
| 8 | Complete the energy retrofitting of Council-owned infrastructure, including the use of debt finance where necessary where material savings over the medium term are identified. | |
| 9 | Advocate for new mechanisms to fund the City’s and State’s major projects, such as value capture schemes for major transport infrastructure. | |
Aims: Expenditure | ||
| 10 | Improve the detail of reporting on proposed capital expenditure in Annual Plans and Budgets, to transparently list discrete projects and their costs. | |
| 11 | Resist the granting of funds to external organisations made by way of unassessed, discretionary and/or unbudgeted decisions. | |
| 12 | Continually improve Council’s procurement policy and functions to maximise environmental and social outcomes. | |
| 13 | Ensure that decisions to outsource services are transparent and only made if demonstrated that outsourcing is more sustainable, both financially and in terms of social and environmental outcomes, than keeping the service in-house. | |
| 14 | Maintain transparent and regular reporting of councillor and executive expense entitlements, expenditure and remuneration. | |
| 15 | Ensure that the City’s services and projects are adequately supported by a workforce that grows commensurate with the population. | |
| 16 | Pay grants to community organisations and invoices from small businesses within 30 days of them falling due. | |