Kalamunda Council has met for 2009-2010 Budget discussions, facing a tough economic climate and a 300% rise on the State Government Waste to land fill Levy from $8 to $28 per tonne. This combined with an asset assessment indicating vital restoration works are required to major community facilities within the Shire.
Shire President Donald McKechnie said, “The Shire of Kalamunda is proud of its very prudent financial management strategies. It is debt free and has $4 million in Reserves. However we also have an estimated infrastructure backlog of over $18 million dollars. Many of our buildings and facilities are years old and require upgrades and additional urgent maintenance. These include the Swimming Pool, Ray Owen Reserve, Performing Arts Centre, Hartfield park, Shire Depot and numerous others. ”
“Previous financial strategies including a conservative rating profile may well have been appropriate at that time but have now come back to “haunt” us. The Shire’s Reserves will not adequately provide sufficient funds for the relevant upgrades and maintenance required. This, combined with the 70% reduction in income generated from investments, has required us to review our financial strategies.”
“We require prudent and responsible financial management in order to address these issues. This includes the possible introduction of differential ratings for industrial, and residential properties and loan arrangements. The current emphasis on low returns and loss of earnings from investments provides an excellent time to lock in low interest rates on borrowings. It is to be noted that the rates we can now borrow from Treasury have not been seen in Australia in generations. Council guarantees that any debt, is only to be used for the acquisition or upgrade of assets and not for operating expenditure.”
“We are also expecting an estimated average annual rate increase of $65 per household per year, or $1.23 per week. This equates to an annual increase of 8.5%. It is anticipated that 2.5% of the estimated rate increase will commence the required increase in spend on the maintenance and renewal of buildings, roads, drains and footpaths. Independent advice from Access Economics and CT Management indicates there is a substantial gap between what we are spending and what we should be spending on our buildings, roads and footpaths. For buildings alone this equates to a required annual increase of $2.7miillion.”
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