REDLAND City Council will push for sweeping changes to the way the Queensland Government funds local councils, including calls for the State to start paying council rates on government-owned land and to take back responsibility for maintaining state school carparks.
Councillors will be asked this week to endorse six motions for debate at the 2026 Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Conference in Cairns, where councils from across the state set the organisation’s advocacy priorities.
The proposals argue Queensland councils are increasingly being left to absorb costs that should be borne by the State Government, placing growing pressure on ratepayers.
Among the most significant motions is a call for legislative reform requiring the State Government to pay council rates on state-owned or state-occupied land, including hospitals, schools and transport corridors.
Council argues the current system creates a structural imbalance because councils provide roads, drainage, waste services and community infrastructure to these properties without receiving rates revenue in return.
It is also seeking reforms to leasing arrangements where councils pay rent or lease fees to use State-owned land for public infrastructure, while advocating for more equitable funding arrangements between the two levels of government.
A second motion targets the long-running issue of state school carparks.
Council says it currently maintains 22 school carparks across the city at an estimated annual cost of between $300,000 and $500,000 despite the facilities being owned and used exclusively by the Department of Education.
The report warns maintenance and renewal costs are expected to rise by up to 50 per cent as the assets age and is calling for responsibility to be returned to the State Government or for ongoing funding to be provided to councils.
Another motion seeks ongoing State funding to cover the operational costs of council CCTV systems, arguing current grants fund installation but leave councils responsible for significant annual expenses including maintenance, data storage, connectivity and software.
A Redland City Council case study estimates a proposed expansion of its CCTV network would cost about $1.3 million to install, with ongoing operational costs of about $326,500 each year before staffing is taken into account.
The remaining motions focus on community and social issues, including faster State decisions and more flexible financial assistance for funeral and burial support, funding for cold body storage facilities in isolated communities such as islands, and longer lead times for Queensland Youth Week grants to allow better planning and delivery of youth programs.
The officer’s recommendation is for Council to endorse all six motions for submission to the LGAQ conference and appoint the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as the city’s official voting delegates, with a proxy councillor to be nominated if required.
