By Mikayla van Loon
While attention was drawn to the Federal Government’s budget this week, Yarra Ranges Council was also releasing its draft 2025-26 budget on the same night, ready for community consultation.
The biggest talking point for the councillors on Tuesday 25 March was the rate increase in line with the State Government’s imposed rate cap.
But applying the three per cent maximum rate increase caused debate among councillors and a submission opposing the draft budget because of it.
Wandin North resident and former Billanook ward candidate Wendy Wright said it “seems unconscionable” that the council would apply the rate increase when “we all need to tighten our belts”.
“Councils like the rest of the community, need to be tightening their belts, not putting more pressure on those already hurting,” she said.
“This means finding savings and going without things that are nice to have.”
Ms Wright said the budget should outline options for service reductions and a cost benefit analysis of not increasing the rates, so the community can decide in a more informed capacity.
“I really want those bike trails but if somebody said to me, you can have the bike trails, or you hold the rates as they are, I’d say, I’m sorry, we have to keep the rates as they are,” Ms Wright said.
Mayor Jim Child said, in a meeting with Star Mail, with external revenue sources becoming more constrained, the three per cent rate increase was a way for the council to live within its means and continue to deliver its 120 services, alongside its capital expenditure program.
“There’s those competing things that we have to deal with, cost of living, all those things, and we’re dealing with that as well, as a council and delivering those 120 services that we have to,” he said.
“We tried, we unpacked it as much as we could, but to still give quality in those services that we provide, we have to do it within the parameters of the three per cent.
“To not do that, we’d have to look very seriously at what services are going to be affected by not being in the parameters of the three per cent so that was some real serious discussion that we had to have.”
The rate increase was met with challenge from Councillor Mitch Mazzarella at the Tuesday council meeting, where he stated he “opposed any rate increases”.
“The community can’t afford it. It just can’t. And on our customer satisfaction survey last year, 59 per cent of residents said they would prefer service cuts to keep council rates the same or to lower them,” he said.
“Only 21 per cent of the people said that they wanted a rate increase.”
Cr Fiona McAllister also drew attention to the fact that five per cent rates goes towards community recovery after a natural disaster.
“The increasing emergencies that we face in Yarra Ranges…costs us millions of dollars every time and that is one aspect of a reduction of funding from other levels of government,” she said.
“We are just not getting the money in scenarios like fires and floods and storms that we used to, the frequency has increased, and we’re not getting the financial support, and we are one of the most disaster prone councils in Australia.”
This was also a point of contention for Cr Mazzarella who said the council had actually “slashed” its spending on emergency management and funnelled it into community strengthening.
“From two years ago, we were spending $13 million in the budget to now just two so in the most as one of the second most disaster prone councils in Australia, a week or so off a massive bush fire in Montrose, we’re now spending more on what we’re calling community strengthening than emergency management.
“And I’m not discounting the importance by any means of community strengthening programs, but I don’t think that they deserve more funding than emergency management.
“I can’t justify to my communities and to the people of the Yarra Ranges, the council asking for even more money, raising the rates again and again, if these services are not efficient or they’re spent in the wrong places.”
Overwhelmingly, however, the councillors each agreed that only the community’s involvement and feedback would provide the council with a clear picture of whether it had put money in the right places.
“I’d just like to encourage the members of the public to actually get hold of the budget. Have a look at it properly, ask the questions and see what it actually contains,” Cr Richard Higgins said.
“We’re never going to get this right in every aspect. That’s why it goes out to the community, to let us know what’s right, whether we want a bike path or whether you don’t want a bike path.
“So it’s really important that people pay attention and get involved. And that’s the true way we’re going to get a proper representation.”
Waste service charges will also increase, as set by the State Government, by 7.3 per cent, a cost per household of around $50-65.
The emergency services volunteer fund levy will also be applied to ratepayers from 1 July. This will be collected by the council on behalf of the State Government but does not provide additional funds to the council.
Community consultation will be open until 27 April, before submissions are heard in the council chamber in early May. Submissions and commentary on the draft budget can be made via shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/council-budget-2025-26
