Annual Budgets
The budget for the 2024/25 financial year was adopted by Council at the Ordinary Council meeting held 24 July 2024.
2023/24 was a year of consolidation and planning where a number of projects have now been completed including three years backlog of road construction, LRCI Phases 1-3 and finalisation of the entire Roads to Recovery program. In addition the Plant Replacement program and Mogumber Hall roof, another legacy item was also completed. Now that the vast majority of older capital works is complete, the shire can start to look forward with an intent to launch a number of initiatives in 2024/25 as per the Community Strategic Plan.
For 2024/25 council was advised that the Local Government Cost Index (LGCI) a measure of inflationary costs to local governments and calculated independently, forecast a 7.1% increase. In order to continue momentum and deliver strategic outcomes, it was necessary to increase rates by 9% for the 2024/25 financial year.
2024/25 is also the year for GRV valuations and along with UV Valuations, this increased by 27% and 30% respectively by the Valuer General. As always this has been factored in by discounting rates backwards to account for this increase in valuations before applying the increase.
The shire is starting to see the benefits of stability in its finances and management team and there are a number of development opportunities occurring in the near future. The landscape is changing rapidly and the shire will needs to position itself to take advantage of these exciting opportunities.