RATES will rise and an operating surplus will be maintained if Swan Hill Rural
City Council’s $56.9 million draft 2013/14 budget — now up for public scrutiny —
is approved in its current form.
This year’s budget includes a rise in
municipal garbage charges for the first time in three years, and this combined
with rates will see an average rate increase of 4.9 per cent, equating to an
average annual increase of $84 for Swan Hill residents and $56 for Robinvale
residents.
Mayor Les McPhee said each year council strived to find a balance
between delivering essential community services and ensuring the ongoing
maintenance of infrastructure, while passing on a minimal rate increase to the
community.
“The proposed average rate and garbage charge rise of 4.9 per cent
will again place council at the lower end of the scale within the state and
continue a pattern of council delivering budgets that have lower rate increases
factored in,” Cr McPhee said.
“Keeping the rate increase to 4.9 per cent
despite the need to finance the Defined Benefits Superannuation shortfall and a
number of large unavoidable cost increases, such as insurance, has been no easy
task.”
Council is predicting an operating surplus of $8.8 million in the next
financial year.
The mayor said infrastructure maintenance had been a key
component of this year’s draft budget. As part of this commitment, Cr McPhee
said more than $7 million would be spent on roads.
“Particular focus will
again be made on addressing infrastructure maintenance, including roads and
buildings to ensure we keep on track with our asset management plans,” Cr McPhee
said.
For more of this story, see Friday’s Guardian (June 28).
