Dr Heather Holmes-Ross
Position
Ward
Address
Mitcham Community News November 2026
Lately, much of my spare time has been spent patching, painting and remodelling parts of our house. There's plenty to do! For years, Jon and I were so busy putting our time, effort and money into work and business that home maintenance slipped down the priority list. Now we're tackling years of accumulated work. Fortunately, I enjoy pottering and love seeing the results, but had we kept up with maintenance, we could have spent 15 years enjoying a lovely, fully functioning home instead of living in a permanent state of mid-renovation.
The same lesson is relevant to managing council finances. Ongoing maintenance is essential to maintaining the quality of assets - footpaths, roads, parks, reserves, buildings, etc. To that end I'm particularly pleased with the independent assessment of Mitcham's finances by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, for this term of Council.
ESCOSA has long overseen the pricing of essential services such as electricity and water, and in 2022, the state government legislated the additional responsibility of independently reviewing the financial sustainability of South Australia's 68 councils. I see this an excellent initiative, as it gives Council Members and communities confidence in how councils are managing public money. Unfortunately, around one-third of councils were found to be financially unsustainable or potentially unsustainable.
Mitcham's assessment, by contrast, was extremely positive. ESCOSA concluded that our financial position and performance were sustainable, recognising consistent operating surpluses and sound financial management.
But what does responsible financial management actually mean?
Unlike households, councils have an ongoing responsibility to their communities. They also have a reliable source of future income through rates. This means debt, used wisely, can be a good thing, if it is used to fund long-lived infrastructure, not everyday operating expenses.
An example might be a community centre that will serve residents for 50 years. It is unfair that today's ratepayers pay the entire cost. Equally, if we squirrel away money to build it we are asking today's residents to fund infrastructure that future generations will use. Borrowing money allows us to spread the cost between generations. Economists call this intergenerational equity — ensuring each generation pays its fair share.
But intergenerational equity works both ways. When we defer maintenance, costs don't disappear. They accumulate, often becoming substantially more expensive. A road that isn't resurfaced may need rebuilding, and because the consequences of doing nothing can remain invisible for years, a council can appear to be saving money while accumulating an enormous future liability.
Often, we see comparisons, particularly in the media, where the assumption is that the council with the lowest rate rise is the most efficient. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. If councils defer essential maintenance to keep rates low, they're effectively borrowing from future generations, without recording the debt. I believe this is unjust and something that we, as a council, should never consider.
As for my house, I'm getting there. Every completed repair reminds me how much better it would have been to do the work earlier!
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