By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
YARRA Ranges Council has said its 2016-17 budget will maintain services while still meeting the State Government’s 2.5 per cent rate cap.
The proposed budget, which was released on Tuesday night, and maps out the coming year of council projects and how it will spend its $178.22 million in revenue.
The budget is open for community consultation until 5pm on 9 June.
The budget sees $38.5 million allocated for capital works with an additional $11 million carried over from the current financial year.
There is $350,000 proposed for the upgrade of car park and $50,000 for driveway to Morrison Reserve as well as $128,000 for lighting at the Mount Evelyn Recreation Reserve.
The 2016-17 draft budget includes a total of $3.5 million dollars for upgrades and new builds of footpaths as cycle paths in the urban areas that include Mount Evelyn, Montrose and Lilydale.
A $90,000 funding injection for footpath upgrades to Burdap Drive surrounding Yarra Hills Secondary College rounds out the proposed funding allocations for Mount Evelyn.
This draft budget also sees $185,000 for a footpath along Sheffield Road North between Mount Dandenong Tourist road and Belvedere Drive in Montrose.
An extra $140,000 has also been allocated in the upcoming financial year for the upgrade to the Montrose Town Centre.
This extra funding is on top of the $1.5 million carried forward from the current financial year which includes a $1 million contribution from the State Government.
The library and community buildings at the Montrose Town Centre facility will be joined via a new atrium and entrance,
At the time of the funding announcement, Monbulk MP James Merlino said the work would be invaluable as the township moves forward.
“This is a loved facility but underutilised (and) having separate buildings impact on that,” he said.
“Well done to the council. These are projects that are ready to go.”
The 2016-17 draft budget proposes about $14 million for improvements to roads in urban areas including Mount Evelyn, Montrose and Lilydale.
The council’s budget also contains projections on rates and revenue for the coming financial year.
Yarra Ranges Council’s manager of financial procurement and rates Angelica Marshall said the council would be meeting the Victorian Government’s 2.5 per cent rate cap.
“We’re not actually decreasing any services, any recurrent services, or … the capital works program – there’s still a robust capital works program,” she said.
Council CEO Glenn Patterson said that meeting the 2.5 per cent rate increase cap, instead of its projected 3.9 per cent rise, meant the council had to find $2 million in savings – and that millions more would need to be saved to continue meeting the cap in coming years.
“When you put that over 10 years, it’s a significant amount, and we’ve been able to do that,” he said.
He said that every part of the council would go through a service review over a three-year period to assess where savings could be found and that 35 full-time equivalent contract positions had been terminated.
After all projects and works, the budget projects a $20.11 million surplus for the financial year.
The council voted unanimously to endorse the draft budget in principal at a special council meeting on Tuesday 10 May.
The draft budget, draft council plan 2013-17, long-term financial plan 2016-17 to 2025-26 and the capital expenditure program documents can be found at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au.
Public submissions will be accepted until 5pm on Thursday 9 June ahead of a special council meeting on 14 June.
Submissions can also be posted to the chief executive officer, PO Box 105, Lilydale, 3140.
