Draft budget recommends 3.5 per cent rate increase

Draft budget papers will be presented to Baw Baw Shire councillors tomorrow with a recommendation to adopt a 3.5 per cent rate increase in line with the state government’s rate cap.

For the second consecutive year, residents will face increased waste charges. After increasing 12 per cent last year, the budget forecasts an 8.4 per cent ($38) increase for the next financial year, taking annual waste service fees to $488.

Total revenue from rates and charges will be $73.8 million including $60.3 million from rates, $12.3 million from waste charges and $1 million in supplementary rate valuations.

The budget will deliver an extra $4.5 million in rates and charges than last year.

The proposed budget boasts a $57.9 million capital works program of which $33 million are new works and $24.9 million is carried over from last year’s budget.

The significant projects included in the capital works program include $7.7 million for the Warragul indoor stadium stage one works; $3.65 million for the Rokeby Noojee Trail, $2.47 million on road reconstruction projects, almost $2 million for the Rollo St masterplan in Yarragon and $1.54 million on the Bellbird Park multi-use pavilion.

A $4.2 million allocation for the new cultural precinct in Warragul including library is included in the capital works program but is dependent on external funding.

Employee costs are forecast to cost council an extra $3 million.

Council proposes to continue with its differential rating strategy, offering farmers a 20 per cent discount on the general rate

Commercial and industrial properties will be charged at a 30 per cent surcharge. Vacant land will continue to be charged at an 80 per cent surcharge.

A report accompanying the financial papers states the draft budget presents a deficit of $3.44 million which was “not a cause for ongoining concern.”

The report said council’s annual operating results were externally audited by the Victorian Aufitor General’s Office (VAGO) and council’s audit and risk committee.

“Neither of these bodies have raised any concerns with council’s current or ongoing financial sustainability based on the current and expected financial environment that council is operating in,” the report said.

“Officers said a key issue for council was the current rate of residential growth in the shire and the impact on services.

“Council’s major challenges are to meet the needs of the growing population of the shire, continuing to renew critical infrastructure, and improve council’s overall financial proposition, within the constraints of the rate cap,” the report said.

Mayor Annemarie McCabe said council was “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. Inflation and rising interest rates are leaving financial turbulence in their wake,” she said.

“This year’s annual budget is a prudent and measured response to current challenges and positions us to make the most of new opportunities as they arise,” she said.

The draft budget will be presented to council at its meeting tomorrow at 5.30pm.