Council
13 April, 2026
Local councillor recommends the benefits of a local finance committee
A local councillor is recommending that Wingecarribee Shire Council explore the benefits of adopting its own Finance Committee, with local experts who can sift through the finances with a ‘fine tooth comb’ and find any savings, similar to what our next – door neighbour council, Shoalhaven City Council, did.
A local councillor is recommending that Wingecarribee Shire Council explore the benefits of adopting its own Finance Committee, with local experts who can sift through the finances with a ‘fine tooth comb’ and find any savings, similar to what our next – door neighbour council, Shoalhaven City Council, did.
Wingecarribee Shire Councillor Rachel Russell is encouraging Council and the Southern Highlands community to explore the benefits of adopting a Finance Committee before committing to significant increases in land, water and sewer rates, and other fees and charges in the Southern Highlands.
Cr. Russell recently interviewed Mayor of Shoalhaven Council, Patricia White, who set up a finance committee with a forensic accountant, a former financial expert who worked on the restructure of Westpac bank, a former financial director of Shoalhaven Council itself (who Ms. White said already understood the place ‘inside out’); a gentleman who worked with the top 10 percent of companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, and finally a previous CEO of News Corp.
Ms. White told Cr. Russell that their council had a substantial deficit in their general fund of well over $35 million, and $192 million worth of debt which they needed to work out how to pay back.
Shoalhaven were staring down the barrel of a potential 44 percent rate increase, which Mayor White knew the community could not stomach, so she decided to take action.
The finance committee put together a business plan and outlined it to Mayor White and all the councillors, and they worked out that they could bring down the rate increase to only 10 percent.
Shoalhaven Council then found that through the savings from the reduced rate increase, they could put $50million towards fixing up their roads, with no assistance from the State Government for grants.
Cr. Russell has a Notice of Motion on this Wednesday’s Council agenda to put the Terms of Reference for Shoalhaven’s Finance Committee on public exhibition.
Also proposed is that Council's budget should be provided with costings for each line item, and what spending is critical, important, or deferrable to support informed decision making.
"Shoalhaven has saved millions with its model of Finance Committee - what’s stopping us from doing the same in the Southern Highlands?” Cr. Russell told The Southern Wire.
Financial consultancy firm AEC has just finalised a review into Wingecarribee Shire Council's financial position.
Cr. Russell says the review has identified a structural deficit in the millions of dollars that needs to be addressed to shore up Wingecarribee’s financial sustainability.
A notice of motion Cr. Russell put to the February 2026 meeting of Council revealed there has been little analysis of best value in service delivery in the costings used in the review.
"There is economic uncertainty right now that's exacerbating cost of living pressures,” she said.
“How can we be asking our residents and ratepayers to pay us more of their hard-earned money, when we haven’t yet assessed whether there’s a big hole in the bucket utilising a majority of out-of-area contractors for service delivery (of which Cr. Russell says increases the cost by 50 to 300 percent), in a regional area, instead of supporting local jobs and re-building our works department?
“That’s just one example of where a Finance Committee can help us with some business cases and finding efficiencies we haven’t yet identified.
"We have to address this budget black hole to be able to do our basics well. Why would we spend any more large sums of money on financial consultants, when we know we have highly qualified professionals in our community who are willing and ready to volunteer their services to support the best possible outcomes for the Southern Highlands?
“Given the success of Shoalhaven’s Finance Committee, I believe it’s a no-brainer that the easy and best way for Wingecarribee Shire Council to achieve financial sustainability and fix the roads is to walk our talk, and work with our community.”
The full interview with Cr. Russell and Shoalhaven Mayor Patricia White can be seen below.
Read More: Southern Highlands