Manning predicts surplus

CAIRNS Regional Council will hand down its $294 million budget today with the promise of no shocks for ratepayers.

Mayor Bob Manning said the council was on track to post a $7.3 million surplus for 2016-17, with the city in an increasingly strong economic position due to a resurgence in the tourism, construction, education, marine and aviation industries.

Cr Manning said the council had got the ball rolling with a suite of large-scale developments.

Now it wanted to take the back seat, to an extent, and let the private sector take the construction reins.

“Our (capital expenditure) programs have been sizeable and we can’t continue on at that level. They’ll come back a bit,” he said.

“They’ve played a part in keeping some construction industry in Cairns. If we had contracted, that would have been bad for the city.

“But what we’re seeing now is construction starting to step up a bit.”

Cr Manning said more development applications were received in 2016-17 than in any year since 2006, indicating that investors were positioning their businesses to capitalise on future opportunities presented by the Cairns economy.

He said the tradition of small rate rises would continue for the coming financial year.

“There will be no surprises. It’s a simple adage, but a good one," he said.

“There’s no doubt we’ve got an economy that’s growing.

“Latest figures show the Cairns statistical area achieved jobs growth of 4000 people, or 3.7 per cent over the past year.

“Whereas the Queensland growth was -0.3 per cent.”