Financial blueprint gets tick of approval

Naracoorte Lucindale Council has adopted its 2024-2025 Annual Business Plan and Budget at its final monthly meeting for the current financial year.

The budget has a strong focus on the road network and Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange (NRLE) as well as keeping rates as reasonable as possible due to the current economic climate.

Council endorsed a 5% increase in general rate revenue of $12.25M, with operational expenditure of $21M – an increase of $1.4M from 2023-2024.

Of total rateable properties in the Council area, 54.23% will experience a rate increase of between 0%-5%, and 7.59% will receive a rate decrease.

The total capital spend in the 2024-2025 budget is $10.5M, with $6.8M allocated to road and stormwater infrastructure upgrades and $2.5M allocated to NRLE infrastructure upgrades.

Council’s patrol grading program has been increased by 41.6% from 2023-2024.

Key priority projects from the budget include:

Diagonal Road, Miles Road, Premier Drive and Clarksons Road reconstructions ($3.96M);

New infrastructure at the NRLE for sheep eID infrastructure ($2.3M);

Capital projects in open space areas including Naracoorte Creek weirs ($250,000), Pioneer Park carpark upgrades ($79,247), Frances BMX track shelters and seating ($60,000), and Leicester Street playground consultation and concept designs ($10,000);

Naracoorte Swimming Lake works including $113,210 for the sealing of the lake floor and walls, and $40,000 to allow for a scoping/feasibility study to be undertaken on a hybrid indoor facility at the lake;

Replacement of the Lucindale War Memorial Hall roof ($85,000).

The following is a breakdown of how Council will spend every $100 of your rates in the new financial year:

$47.40 – Roads, Stormwater, Aerodromes

$24.53 – Administration – Corporate Services, Governance, Risk & HR, Elected Members

$9.87 – Libraries, Community Facilities & Services

$9.52 – Trees, Parks, Sport & Recreation, Cemeteries

$5.56 – Planning, Buildings & Compliance

$3.12 – Communications, Events, Arts

In the lead-up to the adoption of the Annual Business Plan and Budget, the draft documents were released for community comment in line with public consultation legislation. As a result of community feedback, some amendments were made to the draft documents for final endorsement. These included a reduction in the increase in general rate revenue from 5.8% to 5%, and the removal of the reconstruction of Jones Street as part of the Naracoorte Town Centre Rejuvenation Plan ($607,487).

You can read through the 2024-2025 Annual Business Plan and Budget in its entirety on Council’s website at https://bit.ly/nlcbudget