About the Draft Annual Budget 2023-2024

• Where can I find a breakdown of the Councils budgeted income and expenses for the 2023-24 financial year?

• The income and expenses for the 2023-2024 financial year can be found in the ‘Comprehensive Income Statement’, located in the ‘Financial Statements’ Section 3 (page 24) of the Draft Annual Budget 2023-2024.

  It also provides a list of the services provided by Council and the relevant income and expenses of each service in the ‘Services and service performance indicators’ Section 2 (page 8).

  Further detail and explanation for each of the income and expenses lines can be found in Section 4 ‘Notes to the Financial Statements’ (page 34).

• How much capital expenditure is proposed in the Draft Annual Budget 2023-2024?

• Council is investing in a $55.8 million capital works program to support delivery of vital services for our growing city. This includes:

  • Sports facility upgrades and enhancements - $12 million including Lloyd Reserve soccer/cricket pavilion upgrade; Lionheart Reserve tennis pavilion upgrade; Green Gully Reserve tennis pavilion upgrade; JR Parsons Recreation Reserve tennis pavilion upgrade; and a new JR Parsons football/cricket pavilion
  • Road improvements, footpath replacements and repairs, and kerbside replacements – $25million
  • Playgrounds, parks and gardens - $6.3 million including suburban and local parks upgrades
  • Improvements to community facilities - $2.2 million including Robertson's Homestead restoration and Deer Park Library redevelopment
  • Traffic management - $1.4 million including safety improvements at locations across Brimbank
  • Drainage rehabilitation - $1.1 million
  • Town centre improvements - $830,000
  • Sustainability projects - $500,000 million including land rehabilitation at Sunshine Energy Park and Carrington Drive Reserve, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Program across various Council buildings and assets.
• How much in loan borrowings does Council have?

• For the 2023-2024 year Council will have total borrowings of $85.22 million including proposed additional loans of $6 million to fund the capital works program.

• Will user fees and charges increase in 2023-2024?

• Yes, user fees and charges will increase, however, Council has tried to ensure that increases are kept to a minimum or are in line with market levels; that users are not charged more than actual expenditure; that fees and charges are in compliance with the National Competition Policy; and are in accordance with Council’s Social Justice Charter.

• Where can I see the new initiatives that the Council will be implementing in the 2023-2024 year?

• A list of the initiatives for the 2023-2024 year can be found in Section 2 (page 8) of the Draft Annual Budget 2023-2024.

  The initiatives are grouped by their relationship to Brimbank City Council’s four Strategic Themes People, Place, Prosperity, and Performance.

  In Section 2 the initiatives can be found at the bottom of each Strategic Themes section.

• What local roads will be worked on in the coming year?

• A list of local roads that are included as part of the ‘Road Rehabilitation Program’ for the 2023-2024 year can be found in Appendix B (page 84) of the Draft Annual Budget 2023/2024

• What is being done by Brimbank Council in response to Climate Change?

• Part of Brimbank City Council’s response to the impacts of Climate Change is the implementation of the Climate Emergency Action Plan that includes:

  • Partnering with the health and community sector to champion actions to address the health impacts of climate change such as heatwaves, and promote co-benefits such as reduced energy bills
  • Continuing to support home composting and other measures that reduce waste to landfill
  • Advocate and engage with the Federal Government, State Government, and relevant stakeholders around advancing climate change, sustainability and conservation objectives
  • Investigating opportunities for community renewable energy projects such as ‘solar gardens’ on Council owned sites, and
  • Collaborating with the Victorian Government to promote community energy.
• What is Brimbank Council doing to ‘Green’ our streets and increasing tree canopy cover?

• Brimbank City Council will continue developing its new ‘Creating Better Streets Strategy’ to guide transforming streets by increasing canopy cover using stormwater, creating a greener, cooler street that supports walking and cycling, and a positive sense of place for the community.

About rates, valuations and fees

• Are rates increasing in 2023-2024?

• The Draft Budget 2023-2024 includes the rate cap increase of 3.50 per cent across all properties announced by the Minister for Local Government, Melissa Horne, in December 2022.

• How much will Brimbank residents pay in rates?

• In 2023-2024, 89 per cent of residential properties in Brimbank will have an increase at or below the rate cap of 3.50 per cent.

  Based on the average residential property value in Brimbank of approximately $650,000 the average rates and charges calculated will equate to $1,658.88 for the year, including the Municipal Charge, Environmental Charge (140 litre bin) and Public Amenities Cleansing Levy.

• What other charges will be included on my rates notice?

• In addition to the rate amount, there is the

  • Municipal Charge, Public Amenities Cleansing Levy
  • Environmental Charge
  • User-pays Green Waste Charge, and
  • State Government's Fire Services Property Levy, which is expected to rise.

  Municipal Charge

  This is the contribution that ensures all ratepayers pay an equal amount toward administrative costs of Council.

  The Municipal Charge will increase by 3.50 per cent, from $78.99 in 2022-2023 to $81.75 in 2023-2024.

  Public Amenities Cleansing Levy

  This applies to all rateable properties and incorporates the cost of street sweeping, waste and rubbish collection and disposal from public places.

  The proposed amount for 2023-2024 is $85.92.

  Environmental Charge

  This applies to residential properties and incorporates the cost for weekly rubbish and fortnightly recycling collections, the annual hard waste collection, and the State Government landfill levy.

  The proposed Environmental Charge for 2023-2024, which includes the State Government landfill levy is:

  • 80 litre garbage bin $220.50
  • 140 litre garbage bin $361.05
  • 240 litre garbage bin $643.59
    

  User-pays Green Waste Charge

  This charge applies to residential properties that have opted to use Council’s user-pays fortnightly green waste collection service.

  The proposed Green waste charge for 2023-2024 is:

  • 140 litre garbage bin $98.51
  • 240 litre garbage bin $110.25
    
    

  The fees are set on a full cost recovery basis, where the income received from the charge offsets the cost of delivering the service.

  Fire Services Property Levy

  This was introduced by the State Government with the introduction of the Fire Services Property Levy Act 2012 and replaced the existing Fire Services Levy charged by insurance companies in individual’s home insurance premiums.

  In 2023-2024 Council will again be collecting the Fire Services Property Levy on behalf of the State Government, and although it will appear on the rates notice as an item for payment, the Fire Service Property Levy is not a Council charge, and is not part of Council rates.

  Council’s role is to act as a collection agency on behalf of the State Government, and the levy collected will be transferred directly to the Government - the responsible authority.

  The Fire Services Property Levy will contain a fixed component ($117 for residential properties and $238 for non-residential properties) as well as a variable charge assessed on the property’s capital improved value.

  Property owners who already receive a Council rates concession in respect to their principal place of residence will automatically receive the Fire Services Property Levy concession rate, which is a $50 discount from the total levy amount.

  For more information call Council on 03 9249 4000 or visit www.firelevy.vic.gov.au

• Is Council continuing with the Financial Hardship Policy?

• Brimbank City Council will continue to deliver the Financial Hardship Policy to support ratepayers that are experiencing financial hardship, by providing relief in the form of payment arrangements and deferrals, as well as provide additional pensioner rebates of $25 on top of the funding provided by the State Government.

  Ratepayers having difficulty paying rates should contact Council’s Rates Department for help on 03 9249 4000.

• How are rates calculated?

• Council uses the Capital Improved Value system of calculating rates.

  This enables Council to apply “differential” rates to help in achieving a more equitable levying of rates and charges on individual properties.

  To calculate the rates charged on a property, the following formula is used:

  Rates = Capital Improved Valuation of each rateable land X cents (rate) in the dollar

  Differential rates are where Councils set a different rate in the dollar for different categories of rateable land.

  This is a useful tool to address equity issues that may arise from an annual property valuation cycle, which most often causes a redistribution of the rating effort. This is due to the rate of change in property values varying between areas, individual properties and types of property from one revaluation to the next.

  For example: Council may charge a higher differential rate in the dollar for commercial properties if their overall value has risen at a lower rate than residential properties.

• Will the value of my property change and how does the revaluation of my property affect the amount on my rates notice?

• A general revaluation of properties is carried out by all municipalities in Victoria annually, in accordance with both the Local Government Act 1989 and Valuation of Land Act.

  Revaluations were previously conducted every two years until 1 July 2018 when the State Government made changes to the legislation requiring the Valuer-General to conduct annual revaluations.

  The 2023 revaluation will be completed by 30 June 2023 and the valuations will be effective from 1 January, 2023. The revaluation will affect rates bills for the 2023-2024 financial year.

  As property values across Brimbank have generally increased since the last revaluation in 2022, this will affect the total rates bill people receive. This is despite Council keeping costs down and meeting the State Government’s 3.50 per cent rates rise target.

  The next revaluation is due to be completed by 30 June 2024 and will be used for the 2024-2025 financial year.

About the Council Plan Action Plan

• How will you use my feedback?

• Your feedback will be considered when finalising the actions.

• What is this document?

• Council develops a new Action Plan each year which lists continuing and new actions towards implementing ‘Together we are Brimbank’. This Plan guides the work of our services, as related to the Council Plan, for the year 2023-2024.

About providing feedback

• How can I provide feedback?

• You can complete the online form on this page by 5pm Thursday 18 May 2023.

  Following the adoption of the Annual Budget 2023-2024 at the Ordinary Council Meeting on the 20 June 2023, you will receive a written response to your feedback.