Balonne Shire Council has handed down its largest ever budget with a net operating surplus of $1.3 million and a forecast of ongoing surpluses for the next 10 years.
Despite significant challenges in terms of increasing prices for materials, transport costs and supply chain delays, Council says it has also managed to keep average rates and utilities increases to below CPI.
Key Points about the 2023/24 budget:
– The total revenue is $108.67 million and expenditure of $90.17 million;
– The capital works program for 2023/2024 is forecast at $26.43 million;
– The approved flood recovery submissions for roads we have completed include $58.9 million at the end of 2021/2022; an estimated $22 million completed in 2022/2023 and a further estimate of $50 million to be completed by June 2024.
Mayor, Samantha O’Toole said the Shire had been through a lot of adversity over recent years with five recent flood events, so the budget positive outcome was very welcome news.
“Getting our budget back into surplus whilst delivering the largest capital expenditure this Council has seen, just goes to show what can be done with effective planning, perseverance, and a commitment to our community,” said Mayor O’Toole.
“A key contributor to this success has come from effective leveraging of grant funding to secure funds from various sources and funding bodies to deliver for Balonne.
“Council’s responsible budget management and success in bringing the budget back into surplus helps us to continue planning and delivering a broad range of projects that makes our Shire a more attractive and liveable place to live.
“Our long-term outlook is welcome news for the Shire. The assumptions made in preparing forecasts for the Financial Plan are based on current knowledge available and are generally conservative in nature,” said Mayor O’Toole.
She said Council recognises that some farming properties recently experienced significant land valuation increases, in some cases doubling their valuations, prompting Council to apply limitations of 30% across all rating categories (excluding feedlots).
