The State Government should help fund some of the costs associated with Local Government amalgamations as an incentive, according to a joint submission from the Latrobe and Kentish Councils to the Local Government Review Board.
The Latrobe and Kentish Councils, which share a combined workforce and a single general manager, have been resource sharing for around 13 years, and have told the board they are willing to merge if that’s what their local communities want to happen.
Only last month, the Circular Head Council told the board it was willing to amalgamate with neighbouring Waratah-Wynyard Council, which has since said it’s open to the idea, under the right circumstances.
The joint Latrobe-Kentish submission points out there will be significant costs incurred in reconfiguring corporate information technology software in a merger.
The submission says the two councils strongly recommend the State Government fund the IT costs as an incentive for councils to merge.
It says the significant savings to councils could be used to improve service levels for their local communities.
