BALONNE BUDGETS FOR A DECADE OF SURPLUSES

Balonne Shire Council has handed down its largest ever budget with a net operating surplus of $1.372M and a forecast of ongoing surpluses for the next ten years.

Despite significant challenges in terms of increasing prices for materials, transport costs and supply chain delays, Council has also managed to keep average rates & utilities increases to below CPI on average an additional $5 per week for a typical residential property. 

Key Points about the 2023/24 budget:
-    The total revenue is $108.67M and expenditure of $90.17M.  
-   The capital works program for 2023/2024 is forecast at $26.43M.  
-   The approved flood recovery submissions for roads we have completed include $58.9M at the end of 2021/2022; an estimated $22M completed in 2022/2023 and a further estimate of $50M to be completed by June 2024.

Balonne Shire Council Mayor Samantha O’Toole said our Shire has been through a lot of adversity over recent years with five recent flood events, so this positive outcome is very welcome news for our Shire.

“Getting our budget back into surplus whilst delivering the largest capital expenditure this Council has seen, just goes to show what can be done with effective planning, perseverance, and a commitment to our community,” said Mayor O’Toole.

“A key contributor to this success has come from effective leveraging of grant funding to secure funds from various sources and funding bodies to deliver for Balonne.

“Council’s responsible budget management and success in bringing the budget back into surplus helps us to continue planning and delivering a broad range of projects that makes our Shire a more attractive and liveable place to live.”

Our Long-Term Financial Plan out to 2033/2034 is forecast to deliver operational surpluses. Council will continue to use strategies to generate or increase revenue, minimise the impact on ratepayers where possible and deliver the strategic outcomes as specified in the Corporate Plan. 

“Our long-term outlook is welcome news for the Shire. The assumptions made in preparing forecasts for the Financial Plan are based on current knowledge available and are generally conservative in nature”, said Mayor O’Toole.

Council recognises that some farming properties recently experienced significant land valuation increases, in some cases doubling their valuations, therefore Council have applied limitations of 30% across all rating categories (excluding feedlots). 

ENDS