Whilst there was spirited discussion the Horsham Rural City Council unanimously voted on Monday night to adopt its budget for the 2022-23 financial year.
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The draft budget and accompanying revenue and rating plan were open for community feedback between May 24 and June 13, 2022.
The council received seven items of feedback during this period, which did not result in any proposed changes to the draft budget.
Major Robyn Gulline said she stressed the importance of the occasion.
"Passing the annual budget is one of our most important tasks as a councillor and council, and is an obligation under the (Local Government) act," Cr Gulline said.
"The development of the budget is a very complex task and takes many people, many, many, many months."
Cr Gulline said local councils were the "most efficient" tier of government.
"Councils deliver 25 per cent of the services, facilities and infrastructure to our communities, with less than four per cent of the tax revenue," Cr Gulline said.
"This budget attempts to share the tax burden across all the different sectors... we have tried our best to be fair to everyone."
All seven councillors voted to adopt the draft budget, despite some presenting concerns with the plan's elements.
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With the vote, the council avoided repeating its June 28, 2021 meeting when the proposed draft budget for 2021-22 momentarily failed to pass as four councillors voted against it.
Cr Les Power said, while he didn't agree with everything in the budget, it was in the community's interest the adopt the plan.
"When we got to this stage (last year) at the council meeting, we decided then and there, at that time, to vote against the budget as it was presented," Cr Power said.
"I'm not going to put on a grandstand, because I don't believe the public, the ratepayers out there, have given me the authority to do so," Cr Power said.
"I was one of those people who voted against it, because there were parts of the budget I didn't agree with. Again this year, but this year I'm voting for."
In passing the budget, Cr Flynn said she was pleased with the various projects to be funded under the plan.
"I'm really pleased to see a couple of projects around cycle and footpaths to encourage active transport... and I'm really keen to see (City Oval) get up," Cr Flynn said.
Councillors thanked the hard work behind the scenes that produced the draft budget.
"For the size of the city does a pretty good job, we've got a pretty good city for the population size that we have, and budget is always a juggling act," Cr Ross said.
"For the (council) staff, I don't know how many hours they put into this, it must be thousands of hours. Thank you for all that work."
Amendments
Before the council voted to adopt the budget, Cr Ross proposed two last-minute amendments to the draft budget.
The first regarded a review of funding for rural roads "in the light of an increase in fuel and gravel costs", while the second was a proposal to move the Wesley Performing Arts Centre reactivation forward.
Discussion on the validity of Cr Ross' proposed amendments followed, with the second proposed amendment being struck down by mayor Robyn Gulline.
Mayor Gulline said she had reservations about the validity of the proposed Wesley-amendment within the context of the budget.
"The proposal is to seek grant funding, meaning the council contribution will not be required in this current financial year budget," Cr Gulline said.
"The proposal is for the following year's budget to include an allocation... my problem is you want put it into this year's budget which is set, it's a material change."
"We would need to go back to the community, and we would fail in our obligation under the act to have this budget by June 30.
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"If we wish to make changes down the track, that is something that we can do but there is no opportunity for the budget to be re-worked tonight."
HRCC chief executive Sunil Bhalla said that including Cr Ross' amendment would require the 2022-23 budget to be re-balanced.
"For new expenses to be included, something has to be taken out," Mr Bhalla said.
"We've been through a fairly vigorous process for the past seven months to get to this point."
Cr Ross argued that it was an appropriate time to broach the matter.
"I believe that budgets can be reviewed at any time, if the council deems it to be a priority," Cr Ross said.
"The real concern I have is that if we push the goalposts further over the horizon, that we'll never get this project done."
Cr Ross' first amendment, concerning gravel road maintenance, carried, with only Cr Power voting against it.
Budget recap
Under the draft budget, the council will decrease the farm rate differential from 59 per cent to 50 per cent, following a 41.5 per cent increase in farm values across the municipality.
Overall, general rates in the council area will increase by 1.75 per cent, the municipal rate cap set by the Victorian government in December 2021.
The industrial rate differential of 95 per cent was also removed.
In line with the recommendations from the council's 2018-19 Rate Review Committee, the municipal charge will also drop from $240 to $200.
A municipal charge is a flat charge that can be used to offset some of the council's administrative costs and was a point of contention for some councillors.
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Cr Power said the charge particularly impacted the poorer elements of the community.
"I'm against the municipal charge altogether. It's as simple as that... it especially affects people in the lower socio-economic state in our community," Cr Power said.
"It affects people when they have to pay a municipal charge when they really can't afford to."
Cr Flynn concurred, stating she would like Horsham Rural City Council to reach a point where the charge could be removed from the community's most vulnerable members.
"Other municipalities don't have the municipal charge, and I think that's something we could aspire to," Cr Flynn said.
The 2022-23 budget was the first prepared under the guidance and influence of Horsham Rural City Council's Council Plan, adopted in October 2021.
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