Setting the stage for the Annual Budget 2025/26
Published on 11 November 2024
As we start to prepare the Annual Budget 2025/26, we are calling on our community to again share their preferences and ideas on how funding for services, projects and capital works should be prioritised.
The Annual Budget, delivered by June each year, is a core part of Council business as it ensures we can deliver important services and facilities our community needs in a financially sustainable way.
Given we provide 57 services, including things like waste and recycling, maternal and child health, and library services, and manage a range of assets including 54,400 physical items with an estimated replacement value in excess of $1billion, preparing the Annual Budget can be a balancing act.
CEO Celia Haddock said Council is very conscious of the financial challenges many in our community are facing as a result of the current economic climate, which is also having an impact on costs of delivering services and infrastructure with funding from other levels of government also decreasing.
“In the last few years there has been a big difference in how much our income has grown and how much our costs have increased. Like other councils in Victoria, we are also facing the challenge of managing growth with the gap between demand to renew existing assets and available funding also widening.”
This means, Ms Haddock said, each year it is harder to keep delivering the services our community needs with the funding we have.
Similar to recent years, Council is seeking comments early to help inform the development of the Proposed Budget and will also seek further feedback in March on the Proposed Budget informed by this conversation. This approach, adopted over the last three years, has led to more community awareness and input, and resulted in our highest level of contributions to support decision-making.
“Balancing the books comes with responsibilities and financial burdens for current and future generations. This is why we are involving our community early in the process – to help understand your thinking on how we can best provide quality services within a constrained budget, especially as costs, the population, and community expectations continue to rise,” Ms Haddock said.
You can share your funding preferences and any additional feedback by midnight Sunday 8 December 2024 at yourcityyourvoice.com.au/budget25-26
Maribyrnong News
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