PORT Stephens Council has released its Long Term Financial Plan for 2022-2032.

The plan sets out to align the long-term aspirations and goals of the Community Strategic Plan with Council’s financial ability to deliver these ambitions.

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The plan models three cumulative scenarios, each of which showing a specific financial outlook, so that each scenario incorporates the assumptions and financial outcomes of the previous scenarios with the aim to model and inform residents on the outcomes of the various scenarios.

Each scenario clearly shows that Port Stephens Council is predicting deficits for a number of years, coupled with a real shortage of cash to continue to fund operations should current service levels be maintained.

A spokesperson of Council said the Long Term Financial Plan highlights areas which the Council needs to address.

“Council continues to face further pressures being constrained by a rate capping regime imposed by the State Government that does not adequately provide for the real increases in the cost of services.

“Clearly Council will need to critically examine the rate burden placed on residents and ratepayers of the Local Government area and will need to examine all options that may be available including the potential to apply for a Special Rate Variation,” the Council representative said.

The representative said that whilst such a move as a rate variation may be undesirable, the option to consider an upscale of the rate burden must be examined.

The full Plan is available on the Council’s website at https://www.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/council/our-performance2/integrated-plans

By Tara CAMPBELL