Corangamite Shire Council last night adopted its $45m 2019-2020 Budget with a continuing focus on roads and public buildings and facilities.
Mayor Neil Trotter said Council remained debt-free and would deliver a $1.4m operating surplus over the next 12 months.
"This budget is a financially responsible document that will return the best value for ratepayers and residents," Cr Trotter said.
"With 16,000 people across 12 towns and 4600 square kilometres of farming land, 2000 km of local roads and public assets, getting the balance right is an incredibly complex task.
"Council is confident we have allocated funding where it will provide the greatest good for the Shire as a whole, maintaining existing assets and services while also building a sustainable and prosperous future across the whole community.
The Budget allocates 14.8 million to capital works.
"We have allocated $8.2 million to be spent on road rehabilitation, $1.5 million on the Twelve Apostles Trail, $610,000 on bridges, $250,000 on drainage, $233,000 on kerb and channel and $206,000 on footpaths," Cr Trotter said.
"The Budget also maintains our ongoing commitments to services that contribute to the physical and social wellbeing of the community, such as early years and aged care services, pools and libraries."
Cr Trotter said Council received five submissions during the statutory notice period.
"I want to thank everyone who made a submission and got involved in the budget process."
Budget highlights include:
- Roads ($8.2 million) – including rehabilitation, roads to recovery projects, resheeting and resealing.
- Parks and gardens ($1.5 million) – including Stage 1 of the Timboon – Port Campbell trail
- Buildings ($1.4 million) – including the Port Campbell toilet block, swimming pool upgrades and ongoing maintenance of buildings.
- Plant and Equipment ($1.7 million) – including ongoing cyclical replacement of plant and vehicles, and upgrade and replacement of information technology
- Grants ($367,500)
- Quick Response Grants ($17,500)
- Community Grants Funding ($50,000)
- Community Planning township allocations ($30,000)
- CBD Façade Improvement Program ($50,000)
- Facility Grants — including design grants ($80,000)
- Environment Support Grants ($30,000)
- Events & Festival Funding ($60,000)
- Business Incentive Grant Program ($50,000)
- Population and Migration Attraction Project ($100,000)
- Business Incubator feasibility study ($100,000)
- Derrinallum Streetscape Project ($200,000)
- Fire recovery implementation ($165,000)
- Youth strategy ($20,000)
- Early Years services ($3 million)
- Aged and Disability Services ($1.8 million)
- Pools ($630,000)
- Libraries ($509,000)
The Budget includes a rate increase of 2.5%, in line with the State Government's rate capping framework.
The waste management charge will decrease by 4.72% per property, which includes a $19 per household adjustment due to lower-than-expected costs associated with the global recycling crisis in 2018-2019.
The draft allocates $14.8 million for new assets, asset upgrades and renewals.
The Budget can be downloaded here, and hard copies are available from the Civic Centre at 181 Manifold Street, Camperdown.
