This year’s Budget will help our City grow and face future challenges

The Budget outlines the resources we need to fund the large range of services we provide to the community. It also details the capital spending needed to improve and renew our City’s infrastructure, buildings and operational assets. Additionally, it includes our plans for investing in technology and other improvements to ensure we continue delivering high-quality, responsive and accessible services at a reasonable cost.

We remain committed to using ratepayer revenue responsibly and generating extra income to invest in maintaining and improving our community services, infrastructure and facilities. We are also committed to engaging with the community while delivering quality projects and services that make our City a great place to live, work and do business.

Having a deep understanding of community priorities helps us to forward plan and make appropriate decisions that support the wellbeing and needs of our community – now and into the future.

Through Our Priorities, Our Future – our largest community engagement program to date – the community told us the Council services that are most important to them.

These community priorities, and explanations of how we have allocated funding for each of them, reflected in the draft Budget and Financial Plan.  

We also spoke with the community again and sought their feedback on the draft Budget and Financial Plan.

Our Budget and Financial Plan allocate funds for our climate emergency response including investment in emissions reduction, urban greening and transition to a circular economy.

We will continue to plant trees to increase our City’s canopy cover and carryout upgrades and renewals of community and sports facilities, including completing the Carnegie Memorial Swimming Pool.

We’ve allocated $35.1 million for asset renewals, upgrades and expansions. The funds will go towards renewing and upgrading major infrastructure assets including road reconstruction, drainage improvement and footpaths.

We’ll also fund our Open Space Strategy initiatives including parks, playing surfaces and playground equipment.

Open space was voted as the second most important priority of the community during the Our Priorities, Our Future campaign.

Access to our libraries was also one of the top six priorities for the community when it comes to services they value, which is why $5 million has been allocated in the upcoming budget to fund the delivery of this important service – this includes $1 million in grants.

In addition, $1 million each year over the next ten years has been allocated to purchase library books to support our growing collection and enable community access to a range of resources.

Our libraries are more than just a home for books — they’re safe havens for learning, community connection and socialising. From borrowing a book to using computers and attending workshops and lessons or hiring community rooms, they’re welcoming spaces for everyone.

“The Budget does come with challenges in managing our long-term financial sustainability, rebuilding our cash position in the post-COVID environment and managing increasing costs across the board, but I believe we’ve managed these in a sensible way.” Mayor Cr Anne-Marie Cade said.

For the 2024–25 year, the Budget has been prepared in accordance with the Victorian Government’s Fair Go Rates system and the rate will increase by 2.75 per cent.