Council adopts 2019/20 Budget

Published on 27 June 2019

The cost of managing waste and waste infrastructure and the continued impact of rate capping have been considered in the preparation of the 2019/20 Council Budget, which was adopted on 26 June 2019.

The 2019/20 Budget focuses on delivering the core functions as outlined in the Council Plan 2017 – 2021 (2019 Review) including $7.685M under the Capital Projects Program with $3.1M on road renewal and improvements and $915,000 on waste infrastructure at the Benalla Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre.

The Capital Projects Program also includes $800,000 on a Splash Park and $600,000 on improvements to the Arundel Street Sports Precinct.

In 2015 the Victorian Government introduced rate capping legislation which provided for an annual rate cap set by the Minister for Local Government which controls general rate increases, and revenue, for all councils during that financial year. The cap for 2019/20 is 2.5%.

The Budget includes $30.9M revenue and $31M expenditure with a deficit of $53,000. This deficit position is primarily due to an early payment of the Federal Government financial assistance grant of $2.217M. This payment of 50% of the Council’s Federal Government allocation was received in June 2019.

Chief Executive Officer Dom Testoni said the way we approach delivering all that is expected of the Council will benefit from diverse thinking.

“The Council delivers around 50 services and to continue to do so in a financially challenging environment requires innovation and a capacity to embrace change,” Mr Testoni said.

“Benalla Rural City is a municipality full of potential. To realise this, we need to take a longer term view that considers community growth and prosperity in a strategic and structured way and address issues relating to our financial capacity to deliver services.

“The 2019/20 Budget puts us on this journey by paying down debt, increasing our cash position and improving liquidity.”

Download the Adopted 2019/20 Budget(PDF, 1MB)