“This new report highlights that in one financial year, more than $820 million has been cost shifted from the state government to our NSW councils,” she said.

“Cost shifting is one of the most significant problems faced by councils in NSW and our research shows it is increasing at an accelerated rate.

“And here in Bellingen there’s a particularly challenging example of that – the handover of the old Pacific Highway from the state to local councils up and down the coast.”

With the new Pacific Highway between Kempsey and Urunga now open, Bellingen and Nambucca shire councils are in final negotiations with Roads and Maritime Services about the compulsory handover of the Old Pacific Highway.

Bellingen is set to receive eight bridges valued at $5 million and 15km of road valued at $95 million.

Mayor Dominic King said it was a gift they could do without.

“It’s $100 million worth of roads and bridges, which we have plenty of. It’s an asset we don’t really want unless it’s funded. We don’t want that to be a cost to our community, either short-term or long-term.”

Nambucca’s mayor Rhonda Hoban was also at the launch, as their share of the old highway is twice as large, coming in at $198 million.

Although negotiations have ensured that the infrastructure will be handed to the councils at an acceptable and agreed upon standard, the problem is the value of the assets and the fact that they depreciate and have to be written down each year, which will severely impact the councils’ bottom line.

The two councils have calculated that it will affect their operating performance ratios and negatively impact their financial performance by an estimated $2.3m for Bellingen and $4.2m for Nambucca Shire.

The new report, titled Impact of Cost Shifting on Local Government in NSW 2018, identifies other big-ticket  items where rural councils are increasingly having to pick up the tab are the Emergency Services Levy, Library Funding, Companion Animals, the Waste Levy and Pensioner Rebates.

LGNSW is calling on the NSW Government to stop transferring responsibilities without a corresponding source of revenue; to return 100 per cent of the waste levy income to councils (instead of 18 per cent); to increase library funding from $29m to $50m over the next four years; to fund 100 per cent of pensioner concessions (instead of 55 per cent); to introduce fairer emergency services funding and to give councils greater financial independence.

The accumulated total cost shifting burden to NSW councils over the last decade is estimated as $6.2 billion, with 98 per cent of that driven by state government policies and just two per cent attributable to the Federal Government.

More information on the survey can be found at www.lgnsw.org.au