Council election costs: NSW Electoral Commission's costs are going up

While the NSW Government pays for core election costs, most councils choose to engage the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) to administer elections.

The NSWEC's proposed charges to administer next year's local government elections are substantially higher than the costs councils incurred for the 2016 election.

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With all 128 NSW councils to hold an election in September 2020, some mayors in the region say it is ratepayers who will foot the bill for the higher costs.

Dubbo Regional Council paid the NSWEC $291,000 in 2016 to run the election, but the cost for next year's election will jump by $65,0000 to $356,000 (up 22.3 per cent).

Orange council's cost will increase from $238,000 to $320,000 (up 34.6 per cent); while Bathurst's will go up from $236,000 to $284,000 (20.3 per cent).

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An Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) review of local government elections costs found that "the market for local government election services is currently a near-monopoly".

"This, and the very sharp increases in costs proposed by the NSWEC, highlights the need to review the efficiency of the NSWEC's proposed costs and to regulate prices, at least in the short-term," the review stated.

Dubbo council chief executive officer Michael McMahon said at this stage he was unsure where the funds to pay for the higher cost would come from.

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"The preparation of the 2020/2021 budget is in the very early stages and it has not yet been identified where this additional funding will be sourced from," he said.

Mr McMahon said the NSWEC had informed council that the cost to run an election had increased significantly in the past few years.

He said council did not believe this was 'cost-shifting' by the NSW Government and it would not be seeking assistance to help cover the increased cost.

Mr McMahon said at this stage council would not consider running its own election to save money.

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