Murray River Council has announced an operating surplus but says rates will also rise to keep up with expenses.
Mayor Chris Bilkey said the 2023/24 draft Operational Plan and budget has been carefully considered to address rising costs and limited revenue opportunities.
“Revenue streams are becoming tighter, so in developing this budget we’ve had to work on balancing community aspirations and needs with the financial resources available,” he said.
“We are also continuing to investigate asset rationalisation, service delivery and resourcing to ensure we are operating as economically as possible.”
Whilst announcing a $3.9 million operating surplus, the council has begun the process of applying for a special rate variation (SRV).
The draft budget is based on a total rate revenue increase of 4.10 per cent in general rates, which is in line with the rate cap set by the Independent Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).
Council’s chief executive officer Terry Dodds said the revenue streams for the coming year continue to see several limitations and challenges.
“At a time when inflation is circa eight per cent, the rate cap places significant constraints on the revenue raising capability of council.”
Mr Dodds recommended council resolve, in principle, to make an application for an SRV.
The exact extent of the SRV is yet to be determined.
“Every year inflation is much higher than the rates cap forced on councils, and initially this made councils become leaner, which was a good thing originally,” Cr Bilkey said.
“As could be expected though, there is a limit to how many services can be sustained over time with continual shortfalls.
“It’s always tricky, but we are confident that this budget strikes a balance between fulfilling existing levels of service, continuing delivery of some community projects and remaining flexible enough to move with our infrastructure program as flood repair works continue to be approved and funded,” he said.
The 23/24 draft budget estimates an operating revenue of $71.2 million and operating expenses of $67.3 million for the coming year.
Of the $33.9 million capital works program, $9.5 million will come from council operations and reserves, $13.5 million from capital grants and contributions and $1.5 million from loan borrowings.
$3.6 million is allocated to the Regional and Local Road Repair Program which will largely cover flood repair works.
Council will continue to seek approval for NSW Natural Disaster Recovery funding to cover additional flood restoration works, which will cost in the vicinity of $25 million.
“Additionally, as legislation grows, so too does the range and scope of services we are expected to provide under cost shifting exercises driven by the state,” Mr Dodds said.
“With rates that are used to fund most of our services being pegged, our core services and financial sustainability is at risk.
“This means we will need to continue with service reviews in this coming year and have conversations around rationalisation of assets to further improve the council’s operating performance ratio over the longer term.”
Whilst service reviews will continue into the 2023/24 year, some of the larger areas of committed capital spend include over $5.6 million for Moama Preschool Development; more than $9 million for roads and $800,000 for improved safety access at Moama Riverside Raw Water Intake.
Council is also concerned about the cost of materials spiking and has factored this in to the budget.
“We’ve kept our materials and contracts spend to the bare minimum as part of our ongoing review to achieve further savings,” Cr Bilkey said.
“We have already seen some reduction in costs over the long-term estimates this current financial year, so this has again been built into the budget as we seek to reduce operational expenditure to help to improve financial sustainability.
“But I’d encourage the community to take a look through the draft documents and let us know if we’ve got it right,” he said.
Murray River Council’s draft budget documents are available for public comment until Thursday, June 8 and can be viewed online at yoursay.murrayriver.nsw.gov.au.
Following the exhibition period, a meeting of council will be held at the end of June to consider any submissions prior to formally adopting the budget.