A MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillor has called out the state government for what he describes as a growing pattern of cost shifting towards council to run services like libraries and school crossings.
Cr David Gill said the state was “not carrying their share of a burden” as escalating costs fell on ratepayers, which he said needed to be immediately addressed amid the council facing a likely budget deficit. Gill raised the issue at the shire’s 22 April meeting where he successfully moved a motion for all “material matters pertaining to cost shifting” be referred to the 2025-26 budget process.
Cost shifting occurs when state or federal governments impose responsibilities onto councils such as services or infrastructure without providing sufficient or adequate funding. For the shire, this includes libraries, foreshore management, school crossings, and kindergartens.
However, Gill made clear that the motion wasn’t seeking to “shelve good services” to the community but rather highlighting that the cost burden was being pushed onto ratepayers. “I’m looking at discovering areas where we can shift the burden or make it very obvious that they’re shifting the burden,” he said. “People point the finger at us … not the state government even though it’s their responsibility.”
Councillors unanimously voted in favour of the motion despite shire officers recommending that it not be supported. A shire report stated that any decision to reduce or remove a service “requires a thorough assessment of the community impact, which should be undertaken through a structured service review process rather than within the budget process”.
But Gill argued that while he didn’t want to see vital community services cut, the council had to be “cognisant of the issue” of a prospective budget deficit with cost shifting “costing us the most”. He gave an example of the 29 kindergartens on the peninsula that were estimated to cost the shire millions of dollars for things such as maintenance. “This is indicative of so many areas where cost shifting has been able to move around. Because they’ve got the power (state government), they can just do it,” he said.
The shire is currently under significant financial pressure with the McCrae landslide emerging at its biggest challenge which is estimated to be an $8m cost to ratepayers. Councillors also voted in recent weeks to pass a three per cent rate rise. Deputy mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro supported the motion saying a lack of state and federal government funding for shire services was “leaching into our pockets”. He said this included the council spending almost $88,000 per year to support a drowning support service which was “cost shifting directly” because it was a state government responsibility to handle emergency management.
“It’s something this chamber’s highlighted before particularly in the context of infrastructure, emergency services, coastal assets and its social services,” he said. “This is exactly why we need things like service reviews as well, because they give us the ability to have a whole of council program where we can assess the cost, community benefit and strategic alignment of every service we deliver, especially those that we’ve inherited from other levels of government.”
Pingiaro said it was, however, “not about cutting for the sake of cutting; it’s about evaluating the return on investment”. Mayor Cr Anthony Marsh was also supportive of the motion but noted “there will be plenty of cost shifting that we think is appropriate because it serves the community well, but it’s good to highlight that”.
A second motion pitched by Gill to set up a community watchdog budget panel was however not supported, as councillors considered this unnecessary as they, together with shire officers, already performed this role. This included comprehensive financial oversight mechanisms, including statutory financial reporting, an audit and risk committee, and public consultation processes.
First published in the Mornington News – 6 May 2025
