Delivering the essentials, striving for more community-led action and responding to the climate emergency underpins Surf Coast Shire Council's Draft Budget 2023-24, which will be considered on 26 April.
With inflation rising faster than Council's revenue base, the development of the Draft Budget has been challenging. Given the current economic climate, Council has prioritised allocations to commitments, services, projects and initiatives that align with the Council Plan and the community vision: "we are an active, diverse community that lives creatively to value, protect and enhance the natural environment and our unique neighbourhoods".
The budget has been developed on the assumption that the Victorian Government's rate cap of 3.5% will be implemented. This is well below inflation levels which have risen steeply over recent years, reaching 7.8% in the December 2022 quarter.
"Rate revenue is vital in supporting the community and meeting its needs, both now and into the future," Council CEO Robyn Seymour said. "We understand that many residents are experiencing financial pressures so if you are, please reach out to us as we have rates payment plans available to support you. Our teams are ready to help people access these payment supports."
Council's asset renewal backlog remains a challenge, as does the need to evaluate competing priorities across the shire.
"A good example is the Winchelsea Pool, which celebrated its 60th anniversary earlier this year and is due for an upgrade," Robyn said. "Given this is an $8.5 million project, we need to press pause on renewing a number of our other ageing assets - from roads and pathways, to buildings and recreation. They remain safe and useable, but we'll time their renewal in future years based on condition."
The Draft Budget proposes a record $36.4 million capital expenditure program - $16.3 million of which is allocated to new projects such as Eastern Reserve ($318,000) and Stribling Reserve netball courts renewal ($162,000), Karaaf Wetlands improvement works ($2 million), Anglesea Ward unsealed road renewal program ($303,000), and the Coombes Road-Messmate Road intersection upgrade ($879,102).
A $5.8 million Surf Coast Aquatic and Health Centre spearheads the capital expenditure program, which also features a Surf Coast Highway-Bristol Road intersection upgrade ($2.6 million), pathways improvement in Winchelsea's Anderson Street ($102,009), and Mountjoy Parade footpath renewal from Bay Street to Beal Street in Lorne ($47,000).
"We're pleased that in this challenging economic environment, we continue to achieve our financial savings target and this year incorporated an additional $327,000 of savings into the 2023-24 budget," Robyn said. "It contributes to our long term financial sustainability, which includes addressing our asset renewal backlog and catering for population growth when delivering our core services.
"For our growing communities, there is a need and an expectation for us to deliver core services and infrastructure. We want to maintain existing assets to the standard residents expect, but rising construction costs are constraining our capacity to tackle a wide variety of projects.
"Capital projects are timed to funding opportunities, such as state and federal government election, budget and grant cycles. It's what we've done with the Surf Coast Aquatic and Health Centre, which has a proposed $5.8 million allocation in this Draft Budget and will service community members from across the shire."
Proposed shire-wide allocations in Draft Budget 2023-24 include:
- A total $15 million allocation to deliver road upgrades, maintenance and renewal across the shire.
- To mitigate against the impacts of climate change and severe weather events, we are investing in emergency management ($240,000), along with the solar and energy transition program ($292,311).
- A total of $100,000 housing crisis resources focusing on coastal communities will help us play our role in the affordable accommodation crisis.
- A $75,000 allocation to improve accessibility at various facilities across the shire.
- A $30,000 increase in our community grants program will empower communities to help deliver their projects.
Pending Council's decision on the Draft Budget 2023-24 at its Council meeting on 26 April, community feedback will be invited on the Draft Budget. The submission process will be promoted on Council's communication channels and advertised in local media outlets.
View the full April Council meeting agenda via surfcoast.vic.gov.au/meetings.
