Kingborough Council’s 2026–27 Draft Budget will be considered at the 15 June meeting.
Acting Mayor Christian Street said the Draft Budget responds to rising cost pressures, continued community demand for quality services and infrastructure, and the need to improve Council’s long-term financial sustainability.
“The Draft Budget includes a proposed general rate increase of 6 per cent, alongside a range of savings, efficiency measures and targeted investments to help Council respond to rising costs and improve its long-term financial sustainability,” Cr Street said.
“Like councils across the country, we are facing rising costs across labour, materials and service delivery, together with an underlying operating deficit.
“That means we have had to take a disciplined approach to this budget and make careful choices about where we spend, where we save, and where we invest for the future.
“The Draft Budget has also been informed by feedback gathered through Council’s strategic plan engagement in 2025, earlier budget consultation, and a range of other community consultation projects.
“This budget reduces costs where possible, improves revenue in targeted and fairer ways, and invests in the systems we need to modernise how we work and how we serve our community.
“This budget is about building a more financially sustainable Council over time. Council has identified around $1.2 million in savings and efficiency measures through a broad-based review across the organisation.
“These savings come from a range of measures including operational efficiencies, careful review of discretionary spending, changes to service delivery in selected areas, and a disciplined approach to future staffing decisions.
“Examples include bringing public facility cleaning in-house, reducing planned growth in staff numbers, scaling back some lower-priority infrastructure inspection activity, reductions in governance expenditure, and programming-related spend in areas such as public art and child minding at the Sports Centre.
“These decisions have not been made lightly, and staff and councillors have worked together to prioritise savings initiatives that minimise impacts on the community wherever possible.
“The reality is that Council must take practical steps now to strengthen its financial position and help protect the essential services and infrastructure our community relies on into the future.
“A major strategic priority in the Draft Budget is investment in Council’s multi-year digital strategy.
“This is designed to modernise how Council works, improve how the community interacts with Council, strengthen cyber security, and unlock efficiencies across the organisation.
“This is about making Council easier to deal with, easier to access, and more responsive to community needs. Over time, that includes a more modern customer portal, better online forms and applications, easier online payments, stronger workflow automation, more consistent service tracking, improved accessibility, and better information for decision-making across the organisation.
“These changes will make it easier for residents and businesses to interact with Council at a time that suits them, including lodging requests online, tracking progress, making payments more easily, and receiving clearer updates.
“At the same time, better systems behind the scenes will reduce duplication, improve internal productivity, and help staff spend more time delivering value to the community.
“The digital program also includes a strong focus on cyber security, with investment to improve Council’s protection against cyber risks and service disruption.
“This is a multi-year strategy that is expected to deliver a better community experience, better governance, and better value over time.
“In addition to the proposed general rate increase of 6 per cent, Council is also proposing a new differential rate for short-stay accommodation properties, recognising their commercial nature and the additional demand they place on local infrastructure and services.
“Council is proposing a 50 per cent higher general rate for short-stay accommodation properties.
“However, the additional revenue from this measure is expected to be modest in the first year, at around $25,000 – $50,000, because most applicable properties are not currently classified by the Office of the Valuer General as short-stay accommodation.
“Further work is needed with the Office of the Valuer General on property classifications, and depending on how quickly that work progresses, additional revenue may be generated over time.
“We are also updating Fees and Charges so they better reflect the real cost of providing services and remain in line with other councils.
“Together, these measures are intended to make Council’s revenue settings fairer, more sustainable and better aligned to actual service demand, while helping reduce pressure on the general rate over time.
“Overall, the Draft Budget seeks to strike a responsible balance between affordability, service delivery and future readiness. It reflects the need to manage today’s pressures while making the changes necessary to put Council on a stronger footing for the years ahead.”