A “CYNICAL, financial sleight-of-hand” is how Murray River Council Mayor Chris Bilkey has described the determination by the NSW Government that local Rural Fire Service mobile assets are the property of councils.
This long-standing dispute for many NSW councils over the accounting treatment of the assets came to a head after the Auditor-General’s 2021 Report on Local Government, released in June this year.
The audit report re-emphasises the State Government determination that RFS assets are the “property” of councils and must be recorded in council’s financial statements.
This means councils, including Murray River, are required to absorb all depreciation costs.
“We’re joining councils across the state, along with Local Government NSW (LGNSW) in objecting to this ludicrous determination,” Mayor Chris Bilkey said.
“To say that mobile and other firefighting assets can somehow be deemed to be council assets applies more financial pressure on us, even though councils do not have effective management or control of these assets.
“It is such a non-sensical position which we consider to be a cynical financial sleight-of-hand abrogating the NSW Government’s responsibilities at the cost of local communities.”
Cr Thomas Weyrich told the July council meeting it was not a “fair playing field for some time”.
“It’s all designed for one way, and it’s all their way,” he said.
“It’s high time the local government bodies in NSW stuck up and said to the government that this is not fair.”
Cr Bilkey said the council will join the majority of other NSW councils and resist the pressure to record the assets.
“We will not be carrying out RFS asset stock takes on behalf of the NSW Government and will not record RFS assets in Murray River Council’s financial statements,” he said.
According to the auditor’s report, most NSW councils remained firm in 2021, with the majority (68) choosing not to record the RFS mobile assets in accordance with the Local Government Accounting Code. This was the same number of councils as in 2020.
While Murray River Council is rejecting the accounting determination, Cr Bilkey re-affirmed its complete support of local RFS brigades.
“Council’s action is entirely directed towards the NSW Government,” he said.
Council will be calling on the NSW Government to take immediate action to permanently clear up inequities and inconsistencies around the accounting treatment of RFS assets by acknowledging that rural firefighting equipment is vested in, under the control of, and the property of the RFS.
They are also joining the call to request that an amendment be made to s119 of the Rural Fires Act 1997 so that RFS assets are not deemed to be the property of councils.
Council will be making representation to local member Helen Dalton, Treasurer Matt Kean, Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Stephanie Cook and Minister for Local Government Wendy Tuckerman.
