Council budget to play it safe

A HOME-STRETCH financial plan with modest rate rises and long-term vision has been flagged ahead of Cairns Regional Council’s 2018-19 Budget announcement today.

Mayor Bob Manning’s second term at the local government’s helm is now halfway complete, and he is keen to make sure something is left in the kitty at the end.

“We’ve had a pretty good run but that doesn’t mean you can keep playing the game you always have,” he said.

“We are a vastly different organisation in terms of financial management and strategy than when we took over.”

Cr Manning would not divulge particulars but said ratepayers’ money would be spent in a responsible and conservative manner.

“We use a 10-year financial model, and we’ve got to keep looking at the whole 10 years,” he said.

“You could end up with another GFC, a crisis in China or some silly bugger pushing the missile red button.

“That’s just being prudent managers.

“I bet not too many councils have got a matching financial position to us, if any.”

Last year’s budget handed down a 1.75 per cent rate rise – still below the consumer price index, but up on the previous three-year consecutive run of 1.5 per cent increases.

The council has been working to maintain rate rises below CPI for the entirety of its 10year scheme, so any increases should be set at 1.9 per cent or below.

“We always deliver what we promise,” Cr Manning said.

An increase of 4 per cent to fees and charges – such as dog registration and campsite rental – has already been flagged, with only parking and recycling costs set apart.

Cr Manning said projects that still required Federal and State Government commitments, like the former Courthouse Hotel’s transformation into part of a CBD cultural precinct, would be included in the fiscal road map.

“We can have things in the budget, but then if they don’t get support as you go along they may have to be adjusted out,” he said.

“We’re proceeding at the moment as if those moneys will be made available.”