Council invites submissions on draft Annual Budget and key documents
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Published on 13 April 2023
Baw Baw Shire Council is inviting the community to review and make submissions on the 2023/24 draft Annual Budget, Long Term Infrastructure Plan, Council Plan 2021-2025 (Annual Review 2023/24), Rating and Revenue Plan, and Long-Term Financial Plan.
Together, these documents detail how Council will invest our resources to deliver the services, infrastructure and support our community needs.
This Budget delivers now, and lays down markers to ensure a healthy, thriving, and sustainable Baw Baw Shire for years to come.
The Draft 2023/24 Annual Budget is a prudent and measured response to current economic and environmental challenges. As a Council, we are committed to facing these challenges with pragmatism and purpose, deploying our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible to ensure that our residents have access to the services, infrastructure, and support they need.
The Operating Budget represents income of $129.54 million, expenditure of $101.48 million, resulting in a surplus of $28.06 million. This surplus figure is converted to an adjusted underlying result that better reflects Council’s level of financial stability. This result excludes grants received for capital purposes which are non-recurrent and capital contributions from other sources. The adjusted underlying result for 2023/24 is an underlying deficit of $3.44 million.
This underlying deficit reflects a financial position consistent with the current rate capped environment of 3.5 per cent, and the realities of delivering services and infrastructure for a rapidly growing Shire population.
Click here to view Council’s Draft Annual Budget 2023/24
Council’s Long Term Infrastructure Plan 2023/24 -2033/34 (LTIP) adopts an innovative ‘plan, design, deliver’ approach that will see $57.98 million of projects delivered across the financial year and feature the completion of a series of multi-year strategic projects that will provide a vital boost to residents and community facilities across the Shire.
In addition, a Community Infrastructure Reserve has been established to enable future investment in community infrastructure that may include recreation facilities, early years infrastructure and community facilities for the benefit of our residents. This reserve will grow over time and provide opportunities for Council to respond and serve the growing needs of our community.
Click here to view Council’s draft Long Term Infrastructure Plan 2023/24 -2033/34
The Council Plan is a four-year road map laying out the services, priorities and strategies we will pursue to ready the Shire for the future, and support community quality of life as we continue to grow. It was adopted in 2021 and is reviewed and updated each year to make sure it remains aligned with the Community Vision’s strategic objectives of a sustainable, healthy and thriving community and Shire.
The total revenue from rates and charges for 2023/24 is $73.85 million (including supplementary valuations and interest on rates and charges).
The rate increase is capped at 3.5 per cent in line with the Victorian Government’s Fair Go Rates System (FGRS). The rate cap applies to the total rates revenue received by Council, not to individual ratepayers.
At the time the rate cap was announced, inflation was 8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022 – more than double the rate cap of 3.5 per cent. Operating within this rate capped environment presents a significant challenge because it means that Council’s rates revenue alone is not sufficient to fund all the services and infrastructure that it is required to deliver.
The Long Term Financial Plan is developed to align Council’s financial capacity with long-term service objectives. Financial planning uses forecasts to provide insight into future financial capacity so that strategies can be developed to achieve long-term sustainability considering Council’s service objectives and financial challenges.
All community members are invited to review the draft Budget and key documents, and to make a submission in response.
Submissions may be made in the following ways:
The submission period is open from 8:30am Thursday, 13 April to midnight Sunday, 7 May 2023.
Submitters will be invited to speak to their submissions at a Special Council Meeting on Wednesday 17 May 2023.
For more information on Council’s draft Annual Budget and key documents, please visit www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au/DraftBudget2023/24
Join the Facebook Live EventCouncil will host a Facebook Live event at 7pm on Wednesday 19 April to provide residents with further information about the draft Annual Budget and key documents and address any questions they may have.
The session will be live streamed via Council’s Facebook page.
Community members are encouraged to submit questions ahead of the event to have them answered by Mayor of Baw Baw Shire, Councillor Annemarie McCabe and senior Council staff.
Click here to submit a question for the Facebook Live event.
Quote attributable to Mayor Cr Annemarie McCabe “On behalf of Baw Baw Shire Council, I’m pleased to present the draft Annual Budget and key documents for community review and consideration.
We are navigating a time of economic and environmental instability. The strongest waves may have subsided, but the lingering impacts of the pandemic are still rippling through our lives. Global events are producing further uncertainty. Inflation and rising interest rates are leaving financial turbulence in their wake. The La Nina weather pattern is set to cause disruption for seasons to come.
This year’s Annual Budget is a prudent and measured response to those challenges and positions us to make the most of new opportunities as they arise. It delivers now, and lays down markers to ensure a healthy, thriving, and sustainable Baw Baw for years to come.
I thank our officers for their diligence while crafting this budget, and my fellow Councillors for their careful oversight and input.
Now, I’m inviting you – our community – to take a good look at the budget and other key documents for yourself. Let us know if there is something you want changed, added or addressed. Your input matters. The budget submission process is a genuine opportunity to have an impact on funded Council priorities. Submissions can be made via Council’s website until midnight on Sunday 7 May.
I also highly encourage our community to log onto our Facebook Live event on Wednesday 19 April at 7pm. I’ll be there alongside senior Council staff members to answer any questions people may have about the budget and to hear about any items they believe this budget should include.”