{"id":125652,"date":"2026-01-12T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=125652"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T07:47:51","slug":"new-budget-consultation-plan-to-give-community-more-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/new-budget-consultation-plan-to-give-community-more-say\/","title":{"rendered":"New budget consultation plan to give community more say"},"content":{"rendered":"

CITY of Greater Geelong residents will have the opportunity to share their opinions on the city’s spending much earlier in the budget cycle under a new plan.<\/p>\n

The city will adopt a new process for the 2026-27 financial year to ensure the community can shape the budget from a more fundamental level.<\/p>\n

Under the new model, a Budget Discussion Paper will be released for consultation in mid-February, allowing the community to leave comments and submissions until April.<\/p>\n

Submissions will be reviewed as the budget is developed, before targeted engagement begins from mid-April with relevant community stakeholders.<\/p>\n

The final budget will be presented for endorsement by the council before June 30.<\/p>\n

The new process will mean there is around an extra two months for people to provide their feedback on the proposed budget.<\/p>\n

Geelong mayor, Stretch Kontelj, said introducing the new plan was all about bringing the community into the process sooner.<\/p>\n

“Council budgets are extremely complex, as the community is entitled to expect sustainable delivery for the 30 services which the council provides.<\/p>\n

“Bringing the community into the conversation earlier will help us to have a budget that is shaped by the community, for the community.”<\/p>\n

Other councils across Victoria have already successfully implemented the new model, and Geelong councillors will continue with usual listening posts for the community.<\/p>\n

Chair of the council’s finance portfolio, Cr Andrew Katos, said the next steps would take place after the Christmas break.<\/p>\n

“We will be communicating further at the start of 2026 about how to get involved.<\/p>\n

“To ensure your voice is heard and the 2026\/27 budget represents you, keep following yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au<\/a>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CITY of Greater Geelong residents will have the opportunity to share their opinions on the city’s spending much earlier in the budget cycle under a new plan. The city will adopt a new process for the 2026-27 financial year to ensure the community can shape the budget from a more fundamental level. Under the new […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":125653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-125652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew budget consultation plan to give community more say - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Geelong launches early budget consultation plan for 2026-27, giving residents more time to shape council spending and priorities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/new-budget-consultation-plan-to-give-community-more-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New budget consultation plan to give community more say - 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