Coming of age: Strategic asset management in the municipal sector

The application of strategic asset management in the municipal sector is of growing concern and importance. Increasingly, municipalities are faced with shrinking facility budgets while, at the same time, having to provide the most suitable properties in support of core service delivery requirements. The focus of municipal asset management is to support local decision making related to the acquisition, remediation or disposal of property. In light of the fact that local government is the closest level of government to the public, the framework for strategic asset management must be transparent and beyond reproach. This paper legitimises the application of strategic asset management in the municipal sector and proffers a unique, empirical approach to the rationalisation of property in support of service delivery.