Zero per cent rate rise approved – City of Ballarat council meeting briefs

CITY of Ballarat councillors unanimously voted for a zero per cent average rate rise at June’s council meeting.

The cost-of-living measure is part of the City of Ballarat’s 2025 to 2026 annual budget which includes further initiatives aimed at helping ratepayers.

There will be a one off $120 rebate for low-income Health Care Card holders and the single household pensioner rebate will rise by $10 to $120.

The Eureka Pool will have extended operating hours during hot weather, there will be additional library opening hours and programs, and free entry to the Black Hill and Buninyong pools over summer.

Community groups will be able to hire Ballarat Town Hall rooms for free for non-commercial purposes.

By not applying an annual rates rise, council officers were required to find $3.9 million in savings which was done by tightening operational efficiencies.

There will be no effect to front line services.

“Councillors have been very clear from the start about not wanting the [zero per cent rise] to effect front line services,” mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said.

“What that means is rather than collecting more money we’ve had to find savings internally and the organisation has managed to do that.”

A further $1.2 million of savings was found which will go towards extra community initiatives and priorities.

Cr Des Hudson, although supportive of the budget, said it’s important to remember the rates freeze will have consequences.

“We are the largest family, when we think of Ballarat in a family context, but we grow at 1.8 per cent year in year out,” he said. “Our kids never get older, we always have newborns.

“When we grow at that amount of people per year, around 1.8, so we’re talking 1500 to 2000 people per year coming into our community and calling Ballarat home, who then relay on our services… unless we fund that we stretch the limit and therefore the quality must go down.

“Responsibly for leadership, for building a better Ballarat long into the future, zero increases come at a cost.”

Although there is a zero per cent average rate rise, ratepayers may still find some fluctuation in their notice due to changing property values.

The waste charge will increase by $43 to $606 as the municipality moves to a four-bin system by the end of the year, which is a State Government requirement.

The City of Ballarat is required by law to collect the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, however, it will be clear in rates notices that this is a State Government initiative.

The budget also includes a $98.2 million capital works program with $27 million spend for roads, $6 million for upgrades to the art gallery, $5.5 million for the new animal facility, and $2.3 million for heat pumps at the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre.

The Eastwood Leisure Complex upgrade has been allocated $1 million, while $750,000 will be spent to complete the Marty Busch Reserve upgrade, $700,000 for new footpaths, and $500,000 on the upgrade of the airport terminal.

 

Revenue and rating plan endorsed

The municipality’s rating and revenue plan for 2025 to 2029 has been adopted on the condition it will be reviewed annually.

The annual review was suggested by Cr Ben Taylor who said it was important to be able to adjust.

“The rating system is not a perfect system but it’s what we have,” he said. “We should have the mechanism to look at it annually and see if adjustments need to be made.”

The plan merges five of the existing differential categories into two new classifications.

The residential classification will incorporate the existing residential and rural categories and have a differential of 100 per cent while the business classification will include the commercial, industrial and recreational two categories with a differential of 250 per cent.

The farm differential will be 72 per cent while recreational will be zero per cent.

 

Satisfaction score below average

The City of Ballarat has scored 51 on the annual satisfaction survey which is mandated by the State Government.

This is below the regional centre and state averages of 53 and 54 respectively.

The top performing areas were customer service, waste management, lobbying, and consultation and engagement, while sealed local roads had the poorest results.

The survey saw 400 residents contacted between February and March 2025.

Cr Jay Morrison said the survey is not an ideal way to understand community sentiment.

“It is actually quite a poor way of collecting data in regards to overall community satisfaction,” he said.

“This is a random sampling and many people who have been randomly sampled have not actually interfaced with council at a recent time.”

 

Council Plan

The City of Ballarat Council Plan for 2025 to 2029 was adopted as required by the Local Government Act 2020.

The document outlines the strategic direction for the municipality over the next four years including objectives, initiatives and priorities.

Key goals of the plan are to create a city that conserves heritage, fosters sustainable growth, is a healthy, safe and welcoming place for all, has a strong and innovative economy, a council that provides leadership, and an environmentally and financially sustainable future.

 

Community Vision

The Community Vision 2025 to 2035 has been endorsed by council, informed by community engagement between October and November last year.

The municipality engaged with more than 2200 residents and worked closely with a panel of 43 randomly selected participants to develop the vision.

“We really do thank those 43 people who gave their time and shared all of their local knowledge and aspirations with us,” Cr Hargreaves said.

Two changes were made to the plan following community feedback in April and May 2025.