COUNCIL SEEKS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON DRAFT BUDGET
At their Ordinary Council Meeting on Monday April 28th, Latrobe Councillors endorsed the release of a draft budget and annual plan for community feedback.
Latrobe Council is committed to improving transparency and engagement with our community regarding any adjustments to rates and charges.
Council’s goal is to enhance understanding, improve available information, and to continually build trust between the Council and our community.
This year, Council worked diligently to develop it's Annual Plan and Budget early to enable a period of community consultation prior to formal adoption at Council’s June meeting. Budget deliberations are always difficult with competing priorities and this year has certainly been no different. Council have had to balance the needs of investing in their growing community with cost-of-living pressures, and a decrease in federally funded financial assistance grants, but just like households, Council continues to feel the impact of ever-increasing cost pressures.
Mayor of Latrobe, Councillor Peter Freshney said, “this budget will invest in key infrastructure from Hawley through to Tarleton, covering pathways, roads and $2m of stormwater infrastructure focused on preparing the areas we anticipate will be most impacted by climate change related weather events. Building upon our prior work, we will also progress further road safety initiatives over the period, including works on Oppenheim Road / Hermitage Lane and Bakers Beach Road and Eagle Point Road.
This proposed budget will deliver a $10.3 million capital works program incorporating 52 projects including:
- Hawley Foreshore Shared Pathway, $1.70 million
- Reconstruction work on Tarleton Road and Percival Street, $1.25 million
- Latrobe Flood Mitigation Project finalisation, $0.35 million
- Panatana footbridge renewal works, $0.3 million
- Port Sorell Surf Club Playground renewal, $0.25 million
- Port Sorell enclosed off leash dog exercise area, $0.05 million
Council is currently considering an increase in Rates and Charges which will, if approved, result in an operating surplus of $2.6 million, and an underlying surplus of $0.53 million.
The General Rate increase has been impacted by:
- 3.1% to cover rising costs per the LGAT Council Cost Index (the cost of materials and services we require to deliver things to our community, a version of the Consumer Price Index or CPI)
- 2.2% to fund the operation, maintenance and depreciation costs of new and upgraded infrastructure, including the much-anticipated Hawley Foreshore shared pathway
- 0.8% to counter the loss of Financial Assistance Grants to Local Government from the Australian Government through funding model allocation changes
- 0.4% phased in rate increase under Council’s Financial Management Strategy to return Council’s budget to underlying surplus.
Noting that underlying surpluses are crucial if council is going to be able to grow and invest in their community he added that “just like our home budgets, if we don’t put away money for the future, we won't have the capacity to respond to opportunities and challenges as they arise. That can include building new infrastructure for our rapidly growing community or responding to extreme weather events for example.
Budget deficits adversely impact our cash reserves, and this effectively means we are drawing down our savings to fund general operations. We have paid close attention to returning our budget position to an underlying surplus and that will remain a priority in the years to come”.
To fund initiatives supporting the community’s priorities, a general rates increase of 6.6% has been proposed along with an increase in annual waste charges. The proposed changes are expected to result in a combined increase of $2.71 to $33.90 per week for an average residential property in Latrobe (not including the State Fire Levy). Latrobe rates remain comparatively low with an equivalent property in neighbouring Devonport expected to be paying around $45.10 per week in the 2024-25 financial year.
Rate payers need to be aware that “average increases” may not reflect their individual circumstances and will vary from property to property. Ratepayers with rural holdings will continue to see significant increases associated with the Valuer General’s most recent valuations in 2022, which continue to be capped by Latrobe Council to ensure the full impact is not felt in a single year.
Additional revenue sourced through this budget builds on Council’s two-year strategy to cover the costs of waste management services. Following last year's changes, an additional increase is planned to offset the remaining subsidy drawn from General Rates and to clearly articulate to the community the true cost of managing our waste.
Mayor Freshney said “the Council's draft Annual Plan aligns with the council’s ten-year strategic plan and councillor Term Plans.
The draft Annual Plan lays out the strategic priorities of our Council over the coming year including:
- The development of a Community Vision, a long-term and intergenerational plan detailing the community’s priorities, challenges and aspiration for the Latrobe Municipality.
- Delivering a Youth Engagement Strategy to ensure our youth voice is heard, listened to and valued and to guide our actions and initiatives related to young people in our community.
- Creating a Latrobe Recreation Precinct Plan to build a contemporary and fit for purpose area focussed on sports, recreation, and leisure facilities to improve community engagement and well-being.
- Revising our Strategic Asset Management plan to capture our current asset challenges and opportunities, and ensure we have accurate data and a clear plan for the sustainable management of our assets over the coming years; and
- A Waste Strategy to mitigate the impacts of increasing waste charges on our community.”
If the draft budget and annual plan is approved, associated community engagement will run through until the 13th May 2025.
Council welcomes your thoughts on our budget and plans for the year ahead.
Review the draft Budget and Annual Plan and share your feedback here.