-ohn :atson appointed 5ates Committee Chair

Former head of /ocal Government for Victoria and current chair of the Victorian /ocal Government Grants Commission, -ohn :atson has been appointed as the independent Chairperson of Horsham 5ural City Council¶s 5ates Strategy Advisory Committee. Councillors endorsed Mr :atson¶s appointment at Monday¶s Council Meeting. It was the first of three key milestones in the establishment of an over-arching rating policy and rates strategy review, in time for the 20 9-20 budget cycle, with selection of the nine-person Advisory Committee and a consultancy firm to be finalised later this week. Mr :atson has extensive experience in all aspects of /ocal Government administration as well as at the senior levels of the Victorian 3ublic Service. He spent 2 years in the most senior /ocal Government roles including Shire Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the former Shire of Bulla and Chief Executive Officer of the Moonee Valley and Hume City Councils. 7his was followed by six years as the 'irector of Governance and /egislation in /ocal Government Victoria and a further six years as the Head of /ocal Government for Victoria in the role of Executive 'irector. Horsham 5ural City Council Chief Executive Sunil Bhalla said Mr :atson¶s role was to lead the review process and engagement with the Advisory Committee and general community in order to produce an over-arching 5ates 3olicy and a revised 5ates Strategy. “A key outcome of which is to achieve a fair and etuitable distribution of the rate burden across all members of the community,´ Mr Bhalla said. “One of the drivers behind a review at this point in time has been the impact of the relative movements in valuations between different sectors of the community which has led to changes in the level of rates across and within the various sectors.´ 7here were 2 ratepayers who have submitted applications to Moin the Advisory Committee. “It is envisaged that applicants will be advised of their success or otherwise before Friday, 2 September,´ Mr Bhalla said. “Applicants who are not successful on being selected for the committee will remain on an e-mail distribution list to keep them well informed of other opportunities that will be made available to all of the community to provide submissions in to the process. Mr Bhalla said a detailed community engagement plan would be developed as part of the review process. “7he engagement plan will include opportunities for the broader community to engage in the review and a range of communication tools will be used throughout,´ he said. “Information will be provided broadly to the community of the final decision of council detailing how the decisions were made, their implications for ratepayers and the expected outcomes,´ Mr Bhalla said.