Balanced Council budget delivers on both upgrades and maintenance

Longreach Regional Council will achieve a balanced result in its 2024-25 budget, handed down on Thursday.

Although the budget recognises an impressive $9.9m net surplus, those funds are made from capital grants which are already committed as part of the budget’s $20m capital works program. In cash terms, the budget is balanced, with Council maintaining its cash reserves.

Council says it aims to maintain enough cash reserves to cover six months’ worth of expenses, and under this budget it achieves this with $31.3m cash in bank at the end of the 2024-25 financial year. Council stands to benefit from $12.9m in capital grants, plus over $24.8m in non-capital grants and contributions.

The budget will see a balanced mix of investment in both upgraded facilities, as well as important maintenance projects. Some of the big-ticket items include a new Animal Management Facility, a new multi-purpose space at the Longreach Library, and upgrades to the roof at the Outer Barcoo Interpretation Centre in Isisford.

Rates and utilities charges will increase 3.9% on average, a figure Council says is below the cost index for delivery of services. Council will minimise the impact of the rates increase to pensioners through ongoing pensioner concessions. Overall, the cash received from rates and utility charges makes up only about 25% of the total cash that Council receives to pay for services and infrastructure.

As part of the budget Council will deliver $47.8m in operational services, in addition to the $20m capital works program. Mayor Tony Rayner said balancing operational and capital spend had been a major focus this year.

“We’ve tried to place equal importance on the day-to-day services we deliver and the new projects we take on as part of our capital program” he said. “We can help our community just as much through our everyday operations as we can through capital upgrades.”

Cr Rayner said the capital program would deliver important benefits for the region.

“In addition to our major strategic projects, there’s lots of little projects that will improve things for our community” he said. “Things like a new toilet block on the Ilfracombe Machinery Mile, new shade for the Isisford pool, and upgrades to courts at the Longreach Tennis Club.”

“Plus there’s important infrastructure improvements like our ongoing water and sewer mains replacement program, and gravel re-sheeting sections of our rural road network.”

He said Council was also investing in its own efficiency.

“There are some important initiatives in here to drive our own efficiency, such as work on our IT systems, and rooftop solar to keep power bills down at the Childcare centre. We think it’s important that we empower our team to work smarter.”

According to the Mayor, water security remains the major strategic focus of the Council.

“We’ve allocated $1m in this budget as a co-contribution towards our water security project, which includes raising the town weirs on the Thomson River. Over the past year we’ve made big strides towards that goal, including a joint funding application with the state to the commonwealth. The project is gaining momentum and I look forward to it continuing this year.”

He said a focus in recent years on asset management was beginning to pay off.

“We’ve done a lot of work improving the way we manage community assets, and it’s helped us identify how we deploy our resources and prioritise projects. We’ve begun looking at our service levels now, and how to sustain them without going backwards.”

“It’s important to keep upgrading facilities, but equally important to maintain what we have and sustain the many important services we deliver.”

The full Longreach Regional Council Budget 2023-2024 is available from Council’s website here.