Mayor Message - Budget 2019-2020 - Cr Liz Schmidt

On Friday the 26 July, the Charters Towers Regional Council adopted the 2019/2020 Budget.

The Elected Members and myself have worked closely with Council’s Senior Staff to deliver a budget that takes a balanced approach to Building our Future as a Region.

Our continued key Budget priority is to ensure the sustainability and viability for our Region.  The budget provides continued investment in maintaining and improving critical infrastructure, whilst considering the economic realities for our Region and impacts on our ratepayers, residents and businesses, particularly in light of recent environmental impacts of drought and flood conditions.

2019/2020 will see the continuation of rate capping on various rate categories following the significant changes in land valuations of some properties which took effect on 1 July 2018.

On average, Council general rates will increase by 3.56%, with over 56% of all properties experiencing a maximum increase of 2%.  Almost 70% of residential properties will be subject to a maximum increase of 2%.

Utility charges will increase by 2%, however as a result of the Queensland Waste Levy, non-residential properties will be impacted by an increase in waste collection costs.

Council will continue to offer residents with a choice of either Allocation or Two Part Tariff for water charges, with the annual allocation amount remaining at 750kL per year.

Council’s Capital Works Program is conservative at $11.7m. The focus will remain on maintaining our existing infrastructure and providing the best possible service to the region within our budgetary constraints.

Some of our key projects include:

Disaster Mitigation including RNAV Instrument Flight Procedure and Installation of a Rainfall Gauge at Clarke River and a Rain/River Gauge at Battery (supported by the Natural Disaster Resilience Program) Development of a Tourism Strategy for the Region (supported by Building Better Regions funding program) Dalrymple Saleyards improvements including Refurbishment of Dalrymple Stadium (supported by Works for Queensland) and stage 1 of water infrastructure upgrades World Theatre works including air conditioning improvements Refurbishment works at the Kennedy Regiment Memorial Pool to address water loss and piping issues and Ravenswood Pool (supported by Works for Queensland) Upgrades to Solar Lighting and CCTV installation at Towers Hill (supported by Works for Queensland)

Council continues to support the community through the Community Grants Program, together with providing support through rate concessions for sporting, cultural and welfare groups.

As this is the final budget for the term of the current Council, I believe that the 2019/2020 budget is balanced in meeting the needs of the Region.

As a Council we will continue to seek out the best opportunities to enable the Region to prosper and grow and encourage future investment.

OGG 1 August 2019