Shire’s draft 2023/24 budget released

THE Surf Coast Shire says its next budget is a response to rising cost of living pressures but also “focuses on the essentials, strives for more community-led action and continues our push to deliver significant climate action”.

Released online this afternoon (Thursday, April 20), the draft 2023/24 Budget sets out asset renewal and the growing asset renewal gap as one of the main challenges, with the renewal of some other assets delayed to allow major works at the Winchelsea Pool.

In their introduction, shire chief executive officer Robyn Seymor and mayor Liz Pattison state inflation has been rising much faster than the shire’s revenue base, “making it difficult to deliver and maintain our services and infrastructure to the level our community has come to expect”.

“The development of the 2023-24 Budget has been challenging, due to the need to evaluate competing priorities across the shire.

“A good example is the Winchelsea Pool. The treasured facility – which celebrated its 60th anniversary in early 2023 – is due for an upgrade.

“Given this is an $8.5 million project, we need to press pause on renewing a number of our other ageing assets. We will ensure all assets remain in a safe and useful state and time their renewal in future years.”

The draft budget also includes a record $36.4 million capital expenditure program, with $16.3 million going to new projects such as Eastern Reserve and Stribling Reserve netball courts renewal, Karaaf Wetlands improvement works, and the Coombes Road-Messmate Road intersection upgrade.

A total of $15 million is allocated to deliver road upgrades, maintenance and renewal across the shire.

The shire has a total asset renewal demand of nearly $30 million in this financial years and although the present renewal allocation of $10 million will rise over time, there will be a backlog works for the next five financial years, until 2027-28.

The draft budget states the asset modelling is based on “intervening to renew an asset when the asset is nearing the end of its useful life and not at the point where it fails”.

“Therefore although Council has a backlog of assets requiring renewal… these assets are still serviceable and maintained in a safe and functioning condition. The renewal of these assets are prioritised in order to ensure assets are renewed prior to failure and there is no risk to the community.”

The budget has been developed on the assumption that the Victorian government’s maximum rate cap of 3.5 per cent will be implemented.

From a forecasted net surplus of $7.1 million this year, the shire is expected to record a net deficit in 2023-24 of $18.3 million – a $25.4 million turnaround.

The draft budget states this is mostly due to the planned transition of assets to the Great Ocean Road Coasts and Parks Authority, which create a $15.4 million loss, along with a decrease in government capital grants of $8.9 million.

The Surf Coast Shire council will consider adopting the draft budget at their meeting on Wednesday, April 26.

To read or download the draft budget, head to surfcoast.vic.gov.au