In a marathon three-and-a-half-hour council meeting filled with a debate on the Waste Services Levy, strong words about the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, and the roof-height war on Watson St, Echuca – somewhere in there, the budget slid through passing seven to two.
Councillors Rob Amos, Zoe Cook, Tony Marwood, Daniel Mackrell, Jessica Mitchell, Adrian Weston and John Zobec voted in favour, while councillors Luke Sharrock and Paul Jarman voted against.
Cr Marwood who moved the motion, said the consultation process was the most vigorous he had experienced in his time as a councillor.
“I think as councillors, we’ve had nine or 10 opportunities to work through this budget process … and while I think we’ve got ourselves in a position where we’ve got a significant budget service there mainly due to the construction of Vic Park and other projects,” he said.
“This is a good budget and is going to see us through to the next 12 months.”
Cr Cook, who seconded the motion, said she was pleased with the budget, but was “not a fan” of the Municipal Charge, which was set at $275 — an increase of $73.50 from last year.
Despite the budget being described as well-rounded by many, leaving council with a projected surplus of $10.34 million, Cr Jarman was critical of the growth in council staff budget expenses.
Compared to the 2024-25 budget, total staff expenditure has increased by over $7 million from $40.06 million to $47.24 million.
The total of staff number has increased by about 20 since the last budget passed.
“I find the growth in relation to staff budget expenses has become uncomfortable,” Cr Jarman said, before foreshadowing a $700,000 reduction if the budget wasn’t passed.
Allocated staff expenditure in each sector:
Office of the chief executive: $693,000 (four employees)
Corporate: $5.44 million (45 full-time), $817,000 (7.58 part-time)
Communities: $8.29 million (73 full-time), $3.92 million (41.32 part-time), $2.78 million (25.75 casual), $224,000 (1.56 temporary)
Infrastructure: $12.74 million (161 full-time), $92,000 (0.5 part-time), $70,000 (0.82 casual), $126,000 (one temporary)
Sustainability: $4.37 million (34 full-time), $364,000 (3.34 part-time), $105,000 (1.07 casual), $198,000 (two temporary staff)
Cr Weston held similar views around wages and salaries, but said the introduction of the Waste Services Levy, a $94 fee for all ratepayers, would help cover the cost increases in that area.
Cr Amos defended the increase in staff expenditure and said it showed council was repairing a previous concern about a lack of services the community was receiving.
“(The community) deserves really great services … we need to have the right staff and the right number of staff to provide those services so that people aren’t waiting in line when they need a job done,” Cr Amos said.
Cr Zobec said he was comfortable passing the budget, but expressed concern about the future outlook, which sees council going into a negative for the 2027-28 budget, before coming out into a positive.
This dip is due to a number of capital works projects expected to begin over the next few years.
“I think that’s where our next three years are really going to come into play, where we now have to watch our monetary reserves and watch how our projects and funding and grants become available,” Cr Zobec said.
The budget was adopted after a month-long community consultation process, which included written submissions for changes from the public.
Before the vote, Cr Marwood closed the discussion and said he believed council’s performance and consultation had improved over the past 12 months.
“I think everyone in this room wants us to be as good as we can possibly be, and that comes with a cost,” he said.
6°C