THE council is not ruling out a special rate variation if the state government continues to restrict revenue raising.
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The state government set a rate pegging limit of 2.3pc for the 2014/15 year, translating to only an extra $395,000 for Goulburn Mulwaree Council. The money is raised from general rates only.
Acting general manager Brendan Hollands said the limit was lower than expected. Last year it was 3.4pc.
“This…is well below the increases in expenses faced by Council,” he wrote in the 2014/15 draft budget’s foreword.
“Continued increases of this level are unsustainable and will require Council to make application for a special rate variation in the not too distant future.”
But doing so is not an easy task. The council must firstly consult widely and prove that it has overwhelming community support for the hike.
After the meeting, Mayor Geoff Kettle said he wouldn’t rule out a rate variation, depending on the projects that had to be done.
“We’d really need to sit down and have a look at it,” he said.
“We currently have $60 million to $80m of projects outstanding…A new sewerage treatment plant is the pressing one and at $40m to $50m we’d have to consider how we’d do it.”
The Mayor said with state government money “unlikely” to be forthcoming this meant either raising the funds through a special rate variation or undertaking a public-private or public-public partnership. He revealed he had already discussed the latter possibility with several utilities.
The Council expects to raise $32m from rates and annual charges in next year’s budget, representing about half its income. There is no change to the rating structure.
Councillors considered the document at Tuesday night’s meeting. With many of the hard yards already done in previous workshops, the item sparked little discussion.
The budget outlines $64.2m in income and $65.4m in expenses, but with asset sales and transfers from reserves, produces a modest $112,500 surplus.
Cr Kettle said councillors already had ideas on how this could be spent.
WATER availability charges are proposed to rise 5pc, meaning an extra $8 for Goulburn residents and $12 for Marulan residents. Water usage charges will increase 3.5pc for tariff one and two, meaning an extra $15 based on average use.
Sewerage availability rises 3.5pc, equalling a further $25 for Goulburn residents and $30 for those in Marulan. Sewerage use will each rise by 3.5pc and domestic waste by 4pc or $10 per occupied property for Goulburn and Marulan.
Rural waste cards will increase by 10pc to $75, which entitles people to about 10 trips to the tip annually.
As reported on Monday, the Highland Source levy will decrease by 6pc to $70 annually.
Cr Kettle said a significant rise in the number of water connections facilitated this.
“We thought we’d give ratepayers some relief on the levy rather than pay out the ($10m) loan sooner,” he said.
“We will let it run its full (30-year) term.”
The council will spend $16m on capital projects in the next financial year, including $1.4m on urban road rehabilitation and reseals, $2.1m on upgrading the water treatment plant and integrating the Highland Source by the end of 2014, and $500,000 on stage two of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade.
Some $300,000 will be spent integrating the Goulburn library and art gallery, $300,000 on the Marulan Hall upgrade and $120,000 on the Civic Centre, including painting, carpeting and electrical upgrade.
Cr Margaret O’Neill’s bugbear, stage two of drainage works at the general cemetery, will be undertaken at an $80,000 cost.
More solar panels for council buildings, including the Veolia Arena, and solar street lights are proposed for the Civic Centre car park at a total $80,000 cost.
Mr Hollands said electricity charges had been a “saving grace.”
“They’re not increasing as much as we thought,” he said.
“We’re benefiting from the solar roll out and some buildings are showing some savings which has helped us achieve a small surplus this year.”
The council has allocated $1.42m for electricity and gas expenses. Street lighting cost an additional $465,000.
Overall debt stands at $40.1m, with one-third of this to be recouped from developers for infrastructure. Council still owes $3.6m on a low-interest state government loan for the multifunction centre.
Mr Hollands said while the budget process had been good, utilising a new software package, there were several challenges.
Wage negotiations for Council workers were supposed to be finalised by last Christmas but would now drag on until July, imposing an unknown hit on finances.
In addition, federal government financial assistance grants were not increasing in line with Council expenses.
And once again, it will fork out $400,000 to the Local Government Defined Benefits Superannuation Scheme, making up for losses during the global financial crisis.
The draft budget is on public exhibition until May 21. People who lodge a submission will be invited to speak at a special public forum on May 29. Council will adopt the final budget at its June 3 meeting.