<p><em><a title="Waverley Together 2" href="http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/12907/WT2StrategicPlan.pdf">Waverley Together 2</a></em> is the strategic plan developed by Council in consultation with the community. It sets out the community's vision of what life should be like in Waverley by 2022.</p> <div> <div> <p>For a summary of Waverley Together 2, including the community's vision and targets for the next 12 years, click on the link below, <em><a title="What is Waverley Together 2?" href="http://haveyoursaywaverley.com.au/document/show/54">What is Waverley Together 2</a>?</em></p> </div> </div>

<p>Waverley Council currently provides 148 services in 22 main service categories covering:</p> <ul> <li>Beach and pool maintenance</li> <li>Lifeguard services</li> <li>Services for the aged, youth, Indigenous groups, multicultural groups and the disabled</li> <li>Child care and family support services</li> <li>Arts, cultural and volunteering programs</li> <li>Development and building approvals</li> <li>Library services</li> <li>Parks maintenance</li> <li>Street and mall cleaning</li> <li>Tree and green space maintenance</li> <li>Events and festivals management</li> <li>Management of major places, malls and villages</li> <li>Environmental management</li> <li>Emergency management services</li> <li>Recreation and active living</li> <li>Traffic and transport management</li> <li>Parking services</li> <li>Cemetery services</li> <li>Social and affordable housing services</li> <li>Waste collection services</li> <li>Infrastructure asset renewal and maintenance</li> <li>Financial management and long term community planning</li> </ul><p>Including capital works, we currently spend up to $100 million a year to deliver these services.<br>We fund these services by collecting income from several sources.</p>

<br><p>To balance the budget without increasing rates or user charges, we would need to cut services by 10% or an average value of $10 million dollars per year over the next 12 years.</p> <p>If this is the community's preference, Council will of course attempt to minimise impacts on service users.</p> <p>Some services are not dependent on funding from rates and will continue regardless of decisions about how Council services are funded. These include:</p> <ul> <li>Parking services</li> <li>Cemetery services</li> <li>Child care services</li> <li>Affordable housing schemes</li> <li>Waste services</li> </ul>

<p>Council has prepared a long-term financial plan that assesses how feasible and effective it would be to raise user charges to fund service shortfalls.</p> <p>Council has already assumed increases in variable income in its financial modelling. We’ve assumed increased income from parking services, asset sales, developer contributions, property rents, grants and investments.</p> <p>Further increases in variable income could come from raising parking fees and fines but these increases would need to be very steep to cover the shortfalls. For example, either the number of parking fines issued per year would need to increase dramatically or parking fees at least triple if not quadruple, just to make up the shortfall to continue funding existing services. Fines and fees would both need to increase at these levels to cover existing <em>and</em> enhanced services.</p>

<p>To cover the shortfalls on existing services for the next 12 years, weekly rates for the average household would need to rise by $1.49 each year for seven years (to cover existing services) or $2.46 (to cover existing and enhanced services).</p> <p>More information about existing and enhanced services that would be covered by the rate rises, and what <em>Service Plus </em>is can be found in <a href="http://haveyoursaywaverley.com.au/document/show/24"><em>Fact Sheet 1</em></a></p>