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Price Setting for Local Government Service Delivery : An Exploration of Key Issues
Author(s) -
Carnegie Garry D.,
Baxter Claude
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8500.2006.00497a.x
Subject(s) - revenue , service delivery framework , service (business) , key (lock) , local government , competition (biology) , business , government (linguistics) , pricing strategies , public economics , order (exchange) , revenue model , economics , marketing , finance , public relations , public administration , political science , computer science , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , computer security , biology
Local governments in Australia are constantly seeking to raise additional revenue to fund higher service demands. One key revenue source is service fees and charges, including fines. Premised on the notion of user pays, service fees and charges represent a significant proportion of total revenue for many local governments, especially in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. This exploratory essay addresses a number of key issues related to this revenue source in order to stimulate discussion and debate on matters which are presently under‐examined in the literature. The article examines the philosophy underpinning price setting, the identification of the principles of price setting, the adoption of applicable price setting models, the need to adhere to National Competition Policy and also the applicability of differential pricing of service delivery within local government. Calls for more open approaches and enhanced disclosure relating to service provision and pricing are made.