By Mikayla van Loon
The “tightening of purse strings” and the constraints of revenue raising for local governments was yet again an underlying theme of Yarra Ranges Council’s 2025-26 draft budget.
Total revenue budgeted for this financial year is $258 million and a total spend of $242.8 million, with $58.3 million of that set aside for the capital works program.
Although displaying a $15.2 million surplus, the council has allowed for a $2.5 million underlying operating deficit, with corporate services director Vince Lombardi saying this made the council’s finances “sustainable”.
“We’re not showing great surpluses. So it’s not like council’s swimming in cash. We’re still in deficit. We’ve still got a way to go in really keeping it in the black,” he said.
Some of the key funding features of this budget include $17.9 million for 39 road resurfacing and sealing projects across the Yarra Ranges; $3.9 million for drainage works as part of the forecasted six year plan; $7.7 million on renewal and improvement works for recreational, leisure and community facilities and buildings; and $13.9 million for parks, open space and streetscapes.
In total $26 million has been allocated to asset renewal projects across the shire.
But Mr Lombardi said this was only a portion of the overall need being attended to.
“Maintenance of assets and upkeep of the asset portfolio here is tipping $2 billion,” he said.
“This year, we’re sustainable. But when you look at projects, it gets harder and harder. So there is that harder conversation with those funding streams drying up, that we’re going to be doing less.
“We’re only going to be attending to the bare minimum renewal gap. We’ll only be doing small projects that we can do, that we can fund, as opposed to that partnership, whether it be state or federal, which we’ve seen in the recent years, which has really helped us.”
Advocacy for improved government funding has been discussed both in the council chamber and on a broader scale at a parliamentary inquiry in September 2024.
“We’re continually seeing cost shifts from the state and federal government. Who picks it up, we ultimately do, and our ratepayers do and at some stage you’ve got to draw the line,” Cr Child said.
“We’re in this space of advocacy, to really talk to governments and say, ‘well, let’s look at a solid revenue stream to local government’, just one per cent so we can actually say, ‘well, we know we’ve got this coming in’.
“We can provide our 120 services, and then we’ve got some confidence to actually deliver our asset renewal programmes and capital expenditure.
“That’s the type of structure we’d love to be working in, whereas at the moment, what we’re dealing with is two election cycles, state and federal government, three and four years, we’ve got to watch for the low hanging fruit. What’s coming out? What’s the political scene look like?”
This was just one of many factors both Cr Child and Mr Lombardi said were contributing to an ever tightening budget.
“We’re such a big municipality 2500 square kilometres, and we’re a metropolitan municipality. It’s a huge distance, and when you look at that combined, in parallel with other municipalities, it’s that tiering of distance, and that’s a huge impact on our budget process as well,” Cr Child said.
Mr Lombardi also added the increasing insurance costs, as well as the “burden” of handling the emergency services volunteer fund levy as “a mechanism or a vehicle for state government”, which may require additional resources.
“We’re all going through bill stress at home and that is magnified for the council 10 times. We don’t have the luxury of going out and selecting an insurer. We’re in a captive market,” Mr Lombardi said.
“Our insurance costs are going up well above the rate cap, so it’s really balancing that cost, which is going up, and maintaining that service level to the community.”
Cr Child said, aside from the funding constraints, he felt the lead up to this draft budget was the most engaged the council had been with the community.
“This has probably been the best engagement process with the community prior to us getting to this stage,” he said.
“We’ve learned over a number of years that we should do this, go out to the people, and we did that with pop ups, the community panel, getting that feedback, to get into this position.”
Calling this budget one where “we’re living within our means”, Cr Child did say he believed it was a “balanced budget”.
“But each time we get to this budget process…it never gets easy because the purse strings are being tightened all the time.”
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
