Kiama Council could offload its Blue Haven aged care business to help shore up its finances.
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Earlier this year, council CEO Jane Stroud released a report into the dire financial situation the council found itself in.
"The businesses in their current operating states, without immediate and sustained correction are not sustainable," Ms Stroud's report stated.
At the latest council meeting, a "strategic improvement plan" was tabled and which aimed to ensure the organisation was financially sustainable.
One of the options listed was the "sale of superfluous assets", which listed several properties.
These include council-owned properties in Akuna Street and the Blue Haven facility, mentioning a valuation of the business was already underway.
At the same council meeting, councillors dealt with the selection of a company to "facilitate asset and options exploration for Blue Haven".
Councillors voted to invite Sydney agent McVay Real Estate to tender a quote for those services.
There was also the option of investigating the outsourcing of some services with an initial focus on residential aged care.
A more immediate action identified in the report was to separate the Blue Haven accounts ledger from that of the council.
The report also said a forensic audit of financial decisions over the last five years had been carried out and councillors would be briefed on the results later this month.
It also floated the possibility of seeking a rate rise, which was approved by councillors at last week's meeting.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal is responsible for setting the maximum amount councils can raise rates - known as a rate peg.
However the government has noted that rate peg may be too low, given the impact of COVID and natural disasters in NSW.
So it is allowing councils to apply for a one-off rate variation up to 2.5 per cent.
Councillors voted to apply for that variation from its original rate peg of 1.6 per cent, which would raise an extra $174,451 in the 2022-23 financial year.
'All opportunities to ensure the future sustainability of council are to be considered in earnest," the council papers stated.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
