City unveils draft budget

THE City of Ballarat has released its 2019-20 draft budget.

Outlining the municipality’s financial pathway for the 12 months from 1 July, the document sees rate increases are capped at the State mandated maximum of 2.5 per cent, there’s also $3.5 million for LED streetlights, and $500,000 to begin delivering the tree canopy expansion.

Mayor Samantha McIntosh said the budget is an effort to do a more with less and will be achievable due to a reduction in operational costs of 8 per cent.

“The cost cutting has been achieved by organisational restructure for efficiency within the council and the use of new technologies,” she said.

“This enables us to deliver a number of projects that otherwise we would not have been able to do.

It is a budget that provides vibrancy for our city.”

Budgeted income from city’s ratepayers is set at the rate cap of 2.5 per cent imposed by the State government.

The budget provides for significant items around infrastructure and future development.

Spending on the environment will include $3.5 million for the installation of energy efficient LED street lighting across the city over four years.

Greening the city will cost $500,000 every year for ten years to implement the urban forest strategy with an aim of a 40 percent tree canopy by 2040.

Cr McIntosh said Wendouree and Sebastopol as well as the CBD will be priorities in the greening strategy.

The big-ticket items on the budget include the first tranche of the $15 million three-year Bridge Mall and Bakery Hill precinct works project.

Civic Hall will receive $2 million for stage two of the upgrade which includes the erection of a commercial kitchen and improvements to the stage.

Next door the Ballarat Central Library is also on the receiving end of $1.9 million over two years for its first major upgrade in a quarter of a century.

Council is responsible for maintaining $1.7 billion of assets, which includes a significant portion of ageing heritage infrastructure.

“Extra funding will help us to keep pace with the need to maintain our suite of assets across the city,” said Cr McIntosh.

“To support this aim, the 2019-20 draft budget includes the introduction of a new policy which will see a minimum of 30 per cent of rate revenue dedicated to core capital works, allowing more capacity in the budget.”

The community has 28 days to provide comments and feedback on the budget.

The City of Ballarat’s draft budget, Strategic Resource Plan, and Council Plan 2017-2021 amendments are now available online through mysay.

ballarat.vic.gov.au. Submissions must be received at Ballarat Town Hall by 9am Monday, 17 June.

All written submissions and presentations will be presented at a special council meeting to be held on Wednesday, 19 June at 7pm in the Town Hall.