Annual Business Plans and Rates Declarations — Remember… You Have More Time!
It is timely to remind councils that on 30 April 2020 (as a result of the South Australia Public Health Act 2011 and the Emergency Management Act 2004 emergency declarations), the Local Government Minister published a Notice pursuant to section 302B of the Local Government Act 1999 (the Act).
The Annual Business Plans and Strategic Planning Notice (No 4) 2020 (Notice 4) provided councils with an additional 3 months for their rates declaration, annual business plan and draft budget processes. These amendments were critical, to provide additional time to not only consider the effects of the public health emergency on the existing budgetary position, but to also evaluate and take into account the broader effect on residents and ratepayers, including the ability to meet rating obligations.
As of July 2021, nothing has changed – Notice 4 remains in effect.
In which instance, the continuing application of Notice 4 is as below.
Notice 4
The variations made to the Act by Notice 4 operate:
[o]n the basis that a relevant declaration has been made in relation to a public health emergency and being satisfied that variation or suspension of the provisions specified in Schedule 1 to this notice is reasonably necessary as a result of the emergency, I, Stephan Karl Knoll, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, in the State of South Australia, in accordance with section 302B of the Local Government Act 1999 (“the Act”) hereby vary or suspend the operation of the specified provisions of the Act as set out in Schedule 1 to this notice.
The application of Notice 4 is said to be as follows:
This notice operates from the date of publication in the South Australian Government Gazette.
This notice has effect for the period specified in section 302B(2)(d)(ii) of the Act.
Section 302B of the Act
Section 302B(2)(d)(ii) of the Act provides (our emphasis):
(2) A notice under this section –
…
(d) subject to this section, has effect –
(i) for the period specified in the notice; or
(ii) if no period is specified in the notice – for the period commencing on the day the notice is published in the Gazette and ending 28 days after the cessation of all relevant declarations relating to the emergency to which the notice relates.
Extension of the Declaration of a Major Emergency
A period was not specified in Notice 4. The Governor of South Australia recently approved a further 28 day extension of the existing Declaration of a Major Emergency commencing on 26 June 2021.
Accordingly, Notice 4 remains operational and councils may, therefore, rely upon it.
Of course, noting the most recent border closures, and the continuing efforts to manage and contain COVID-19 in Australia, it is very unlikely that the existing emergency declarations will end any time soon.
Amendment to the Statutory Timeframes
It is, therefore, relevant for councils to note that the amendments made to the Act by Notice 4 are reflected in the Act as follows:
123 – Annual business plans and budgets
(8) An annual business plan and a budget must be adopted by a council after 31 May for the ensuing financial year and, except in a case involving extraordinary administrative difficulty, before 31 August 30 November for the financial year.
153 – Declaration of general rate (including differential general rates)
(5) A council must not –
(a) declare a general rate until after it has adopted its annual business plan and its budget for the financial year to which the rate relates; and
(b) except in a case involving extraordinary administrative difficulty, declare a general rate for a particular financial year after 31 August 30 November in that financial year.
122 – Strategic Management Plans
(4) A council may review its strategic management plans under this section at any time but must –
(a) undertake a review of –
(i) its long-term financial plan; and
(ii) any other elements of its strategic management plans prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph,
as soon as practicable after adopting the council’s annual business plan for a particular financial year; and
(b) …………..
The current legal position is, therefore, that the amendments made to the Act by Notice 4, first operative from 30 April 2020 and providing councils with an additional 3 months for the rates declaration, annual business plan and draft budget processes, remain in effect.
Of course, for those councils which do not require this additional time for the 2021/22 statutory processes, it is ‘business as usual’.
Do not hesitate to contact us if we can assist your council further with any of its Annual Business Planning, Strategic Planning or Rates Declaration queries.