Council
19 July, 2024
Admin oversight in Budget
THE correction of an administrative oversight in the Budget will be considered by Warrnambool City Council at its August meeting.
“Superseded property value data was used in the Budget and we have since amended the document using the most recent data provided by the Victorian Office of the Valuer-General,” council’s chief executive officer Andrew Mason said.
“This revision makes no changes to any allocation of funds, revenue, or expenditure, and has no new impact on any ratepayers.
‘This is an administrative correction only that ensures a fully compliant Budget.”
Mr Mason assured residents there would be no change to the revenue generated in each property category as the Budget conformed to the Victorian Government’s 2.75 per cent rate cap (and all of council’s commitments were unchanged).
“The revised draft Budget will be available on council’s website for interested residents to read and we’ll also make printed copies available if people would prefer a hard copy,” Mr Mason said.
“The Budget will come before the August open council meeting for councillors to consider.
“Bringing the Budget back is not ideal but we need to ensure it’s correct and that our commitments to the community, made after consulting with residents late last year and early this year, are honoured.”
Changes in the revised Budget
New property value data was provided in May by the Valuer-General Victoria.
Council must include this latest data set in the 2024-2025 Budget to ensure the Budget is fully compliant with local government regulations.
The property data revealed changes in the total capital improved values across various property categories.
For example, the total value of general residential land had fallen slightly while capital improved values of farm land, commercial land and industrial land had increased.
In adding the latest data set from the Valuer-General, council needed to make corresponding adjustments to the rate in the dollar applied to each property category to ensure that total revenue remained unchanged and conformed to the 2.75 per cent rate cap.
