SOUTH Australian councils will be left with a $20m question mark hanging over future roads budgets as a result of the 2018 budget, the South Australian Local Government Association (SALGA) has warned.
The association said it was “disappointing” the Federal Government’s $40m commitment to supplementary road funding was not confirmed beyond the coming financial year.
SALGA president Lorraine Rosenberg said the association would lobby all South Australian federal MPs to support the continuation of supplementary road funding in 2019/20 and beyond.
“A commitment from the Commonwealth to make this funding permanent would enable our councils to better plan for strategic road upgrades and put them on a level playing field with councils interstate,” she said.
Councils across the state have been allocated $160m in Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants – which are untied and can be used to address local priorities in the 2018 budget – an increase of $4m on last financial year.
However, Ms Rosenberg said despite the recent return of the annual grant indexation, more needed to be done to grow the total value of the grants.
