Council’s Annual Budget can be broken into two parts, Capital being the continued investment in infrastructure assets with a strong focus on renewal and rehabilitation in line with the recently developed community led Hobsons Bay Asset Plan; and the Operational component which is the ongoing delivery of local services to the Hobsons Bay community.

You can view the Proposed Annual Budget 2022-23 here.

What are the highlights of the Capital Works Program for 2022-23?

  • $18.545 million for buildings including
    • $12.385 million for renewal of sporting and recreational facilities
    • $2.35 million for environmental sustainability initiatives
    • $2.7 million for renewal of community centres and
    • $1.06 for Council’s building renewal program
  • $11.139 million in recreation and open space including
    • $6.874 million for parks, open space and streetscapes
    • $2.753 million for recreational, leisure and community facilities
    • $938,000 for renewal of off-street carparks
    • $575,000 for renewal of bridges
  • $14.757 million has been allocated for roads including
    • $4.759 million for upgrade of existing and new drains
    • $1.015 million for footpaths and cycleways

Major projects include:

Operational budget, revenue streams, advocacy and rates

The Proposed Annual Budget 2022-23 also include funding for the operational component of Council’s business. These are the services that we run to ensure the ongoing health and wellbeing of our community and the place we live.

This diverse range of core community services that Council delivers includes, but is no limited to:

  • Conservation and maintenance of our open spaces and playgrounds.
  • The management of five libraries, three community centres,
  • Waste and recycling collections
  • Local business development and support
  • Disability services,
  • Cultural and art event programs,
  • Children and youth services,
  • Meals on wheels programs
  • Immunisation services.

Revenue streams

To ensure that Council remains financially viable and able to continue with a robust Capital Works Project, Council is diversifying revenue streams, borrowing funds to bring forward Capital Works and actively seeking grant funding and partnerships from State and Federal Governments.

As we recover from COVID-19, Council is also reinstating fees that were waived as part of the Community Support Packages. This includes footpath trading permit fees, food and health registrations and ground allocation fees to support sporting clubs.

Advocacy

In a year of both state and federal elections, Council is actively advocating for projects with intergenerational significance that will bring economic, environmental and social benefits to our city including the Hobsons Bay Wetlands Centre, and Western Aquatic and Leisure Centre and Better Places Place Guide Projects.

Rates

To keep delivering essential services, programs and infrastructure projects that benefit our community, the Proposed Annual Budget includes a 1.75 per cent rate increase, in line with the Victorian Government’s rate cap.

The 1.75 per cent rate increase is applied to the total amount collected from rateable properties across the city and is not applied equally to individual properties. This means that some ratepayers will pay less than 1.75 per cent and other will pay more, but overall, general rates won’t exceed the rate cap. All properties are valued each year by an independent state government appointed valuer with the revaluation process attempting to ensure rates are fairly redistributed across all properties in the city.

You can make a submission to the budget here or return to the main Proposed Annual Budget 2022-23 page and follow the link.