RIVERINA councils' fitness for the future is set to be a major focus at a meeting of more than 150 local government bodies in Coffs Harbour this week.
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Four Wagga City Council representatives will state the city's case to NSW Premier Mike Baird and local government minister Paul Toole during the Local Government NSW annual conference, which began yesterday and concludes tomorrow.
Mayor Rod Kendall is being joined by deputy mayor Dallas Tout and councillors Greg Conkey and Alan Brown for the policy-making event.
Councillor Kendall has previously voiced his ire over constant cost shifting from the state to councils; a concern he said will be taken directly to Mr Baird and Mr Toole, who are listed as guest speakers.
"There'll be pretty reasonable discussion," Cr Kendall said about the state government's $1 billion support package "Fit for the Future".
The incentive program, announced last month, is designed to encourage local government areas to improve their position by joining with other councils.
Cr Kendall told council's recent committee meeting the organisation suffered cost shifts of $3.4 million in the 2012/13 financial year and they were "escalating yearly".
"It's important that (cost shifting) becomes part of the agenda (in the Fit for the Future program), from our point of view," CrKendall said.
Council will table a motion during the conference calling on the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to incorporate a number of negative budget factors when setting its cost index.
The federal government unexpectedly froze indexation on Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) for the next three years, which has resulted in a significant income loss to councils, Cr Kendall said.
"We would like a special IPART consideration to, at least, take that into account," he said.
Cr Kendall praised the ability of councils to share ideas and debate issues, in particular about their future.
"Being able to get other people's views (on issues) such as Fit for the Future is a really important part of these conferences," he said.