Tasmania's council rates system increases disadvantage and alternative revenue raising methods should be considered, a Mayor has told a review.
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West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt also suggested remote area councils be funded to take over delivery of social and community services.
Cr Pitt said councils' current revenue raising methods via rates would increase inequality and disadvantage in poorer areas.
He urged the Local Government Board to consider the differences between remote and urban councils.
"Local government is not one size fits all," he told board chair Sue Smith in an email.
"There are things we do as a small, remote council that urban councils don't, and vice versa."
He went on to suggest councils' revenue be considered, including alternative revenue models or "mitigations" to "prevent local government increasing inequality".
Cr Pitt said rates revenue was based on property value, so municipalities with the highest wealth had the highest ability to collect revenue and deliver services.
"This funding model means that the communities with the highest disadvantage will have the lowest ability to raise revenue and the local government funding model will increase disadvantage and inequality over time," he said.
Cr Pitt said local government could deliver aggregated community services well in remote areas if funded to do so.
"Currently, there are numerous social and community programs that run across the state, funded by different areas in the state and commonwealth governments," he said.
"The result in remote communities is the severe fragmentation and dislocation of services.
"There are over 30 service providers funded to deliver community services on the West Coast, some only here for a day, a quarter or not at all."
Cr Pitt said there would be a much higher level of community services, delivered in place, if they were aggregated under councils.
"The outcomes would be better," he said.
The board is overseeing a state government-initiated review of local government.
The government says the review is intended to "ready local government in Tasmania for the challenges and opportunities of the future and to create a more robust and capable system of local government".
Sean Ford
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
