Hepburn Shire Council has launched a new survey and information relating to its Financial Vision, inviting ratepayers, residents and visitors to submit their responses to support the development of a long-term financial plan.
“The Victorian Local Government sector is facing severe financial challenges due to increased costs of service delivery and construction, a limited range of revenue options and recovery from costly natural disasters,” the Council said in a public statement.
“At Hepburn Shire, our financial environment, as with others, has been adversely impacted by rising inflation affecting the delivery of services and infrastructure, cost shifting from other levels of government, and extraordinary costs associated with recovery from recent flooding and storm events.
“Multiple years of State Government-prescribed rate cap adjustments below inflation has also had a negative impact on our financial sustainability. As a rural council we have limited opportunities for alternate income streams.”
The Council says it is committed to transparency and accountability on financial strategy and the delivery of local services.
“In the 2024/25 budget, Council has committed to making $1.5 million in operating savings and is now committing to working with community to ensure our long-term financial viability.”
In 2025/26 and beyond, Council says it needs to find an additional $4 million in long-term savings or additional revenue to develop a financially responsible plan.
It has released a Service Map and a Service Catalogue to share further information on the allocation of Council budgets across its services.
“We would like to hear from ratepayers, community members and visitors on their priorities regarding service delivery, community infrastructure renewal or upgrades, and the potential for a rate increase,” said Mayor, Brian Hood.
“We want to build our financial roadmap together, and we invite the community to attend one of our drop-in sessions across the Shire or to have their say on the Participate Hepburn page of the website. We can either increase rates or change the delivery of, or even cut, some of our services or undertake a combination of both options. We want to gauge community sentiments and ideas on reshaping the budget, and on the management of our buildings and infrastructure.”Â
The Participate Hepburn page will be open for comment between 1-17 July, with a long- term financial plan to be presented to Council for adoption in September. Â
View the survey: Financial Vision | Participate Hepburn.