Each year council’s budget presents a set of unique and often unprecedented challenges.
With a pressure-cooker of high inflation, soaring electricity prices and a sharp increase in the cost of construction materials the 2023/24 budget will be one of the most challenging in my time at council.
On Thursday councillors met for the first of many budget discussions planned for the coming months.
As a team we are committed to making decisions in the best interest of our community while balancing the financial impacts to our ratepayers and the organisation.
We don’t want to burden our ratepayers at a time when cost-of-living pressures are stretching people, however the organisation is not immune to the rising cost of delivering services.
Council is not exempt from bill shock. This financial year alone we have absorbed an unforeseen $2.8 million in extra electricity costs due to a volatile wholesale electricity market.
Council’s high electricity consumption sites like our street lighting contract account for $1.7 million of those extra costs.
On top of this road materials such as asphalt have increased by up to 35%. The price of concrete, pipes and steel has also gone up significantly, and it has become difficult to source some of these materials.
As a council team, we must balance the delivery of services for our future generations with the long-term financial position of the organisation.
To do this we must be smart and forward-thinking and ensure value for money is front of mind in our decision making.
There will be many, many hours of robust discussion, debate and eventually decisions over the next few months and I’m grateful to my fellow councillors who are committed to doing the best for our residents and businesses.
