City of Ballarat is again decrying the state’s rate capping environment, with a conservative municipal budget on the way.
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The city’s draft budget for the 2018/19 financial year was released for public consultation on Wednesday morning.
Ballarat’s arts and recreation facilities are set for a boost, with Her Majesty’s Theatre allocated $7.3 million for emergency works, while $4.2 million will be put towards recreational capital improvements.
A 2.25 per cent rate rise is flagged, as well as an increase of more than 12 per cent for the annual waste levy, following changes to the international recycling market.
Chart source: City of Ballarat draft budget
City of Ballarat is set to cut total capital works expenditure by almost 40 per cent from the current financial year to 2018/19. The forecast actual capital works expenditure for 2017/18 was more than $105 million, but is set to drop to $65 million.
The draft budget documents state the city would need to spend $83.4 million each year to maintain current assets, but can only afford to spend $43.3 million in the 2019/19 financial year.
The document states there is a $40 million gap each year in the funding needed to sustain more than $1.9 billion of community building and infrastructure.
City of Ballarat CEO Justine Linley said without the rate cap, residents would pay the equivalent of an extra “coffee a week” to fully cover the city’s building upkeep gap.
“This is the first budget where City of Ballarat has really had to grapple with the impact of what it means to operate in a rate-capped environment,” she said.
“What we’re faced with is a gap over ten years of $298 million, which we would have otherwise been able to raise through rates.”
“For a city of our size as a regional capital, the contributions that come from state government to local government should be higher.”
Around $115 million of the city’s $195 million annual income comes from ratepayers, in the form of rates and waste charges.
The draft budget is now on public exhibition until June 15, with the public able to make submissions at a special council meeting on June 20. The budget will then be considered and ratified by councillors at a special council meeting on June 27.
The City of Ballarat will allocate $682,000 for advocacy and lobbying if the budget is approved.
City of Ballarat received more than $35.5 million in grants, with $24.2 million in user fees for council services.
The Sebastopol Library’s redevelopment is set to be fully funded in the next financial year, with $2.8 million allocated to complete the building.
Around $600,000 will be given to the Eureka Centre for the next financial year. The City of Ballarat spent around $1 million annually on the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka.
$5 million is set to go towards the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre, following the start of construction in March this year.
City of Ballarat is set to employ 515 full-time staff for the upcoming financial year. The draft document states $19.6 million in total will be reduced in operational expenditure over 10 years.