SWAN Hill Rural City Council is proposing a general rate rise of 2.38 percent in its 2015/16 draft budget, which will be released for public consultation on Friday.
Council claimed the rate rise – which gets bumped up to 2.76 percent when including garbage charges – would maintain core council services and provide a healthy capital works program amidst “financial challenges”.
Council CEO Dean Miller said it was expected the general rate rise would be one of the lowest across Victoria, similar with last year’s rise of three percent.
“In preparing the draft budget, we faced some financial challenges of our own, like the continued reduction in State and Federal government funding to councils and pressure on other income sources, due to things like low interest rates on investments,” Mr Miller said.
Among the services to receive major funding boosts in the budget are road maintenance and construction ($7.7 million), the maintenance of recreational areas and facilities ($5.3 million) and care for the elderly ($2.6 million).
Council has also approved $325,000 worth of funding for works through Community Plans for towns across the municipality, along with the continued rollout of the Heartbeat of the Murray Experience and Swan Hill Riverfront Redevelopment.
Mayor Michael Adamson encouraged community members to attend one of the public information sessions in Swan Hill and Robinvale next week, and for people to write to council with their feedback on the budget.
“We value input from our community and it is important for residents, business people and community groups to give us their feedback to this proposed budget,” Cr Adamson said.
Copies of the draft budget will be available this Friday on the council’s website and from council offices in Swan Hill and Robinvale.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (May 8).
