Under section 403 of the Local Government Act, councils are required to prepare a Long Term Financial Plan in detail every four years that aligns to the integrated planning and reporting (IP&R) framework mandated by the Office of Local Government. The Plan is to be updated annually when developing the Operational Plan. The IP&R framework requires the Long Term Financial Plan to be placed on public exhibition and for submissions received by Council in that period to be noted and considered before the final adoption by Council and endorsement of the Long Term Financial Plan.

A revised 2025/26 to 2034/35 Long Term Financial Plan has been prepared that includes income and expenditure allocations that align with Council’s original application for the approved Special Rate Variation (SRV), as well as allowing for discretionary and non-discretionary cost increases incurred since the SRV was approved.

This revised version of the Plan indicates that forecast financial capacity has declined and the average annual forecast budget (cash) surplus has reduced by $1.9 million per year, from $3.0 million when the SRV was approved to $1.1 million in this version of the Plan. Council is unable to sustain future cost increases of this magnitude, and the average budget (cash) surplus forecast is insufficient to protect Council from budget shocks that typically occur from year to year and that have a higher likelihood of occurrence over the ten-year term of the Plan.

Action is required to increase forecast financial capacity back to the level when the SRV was approved and the plan includes a number of recommendations that, if followed, should ensure that Council remains financially sustainable over the long term.

A number of recommendations were also included, that were designed to increase financial capacity back to the level forecast at the time the SRV was approved. Key recommendations included maintaining cost increases at modest levels, ensuring no new positions for permanent staff from Council’s general fund were created (unless offset by an equivalent position elsewhere), and pursuing opportunities to increase income through streams other than rates, such as by renewing contracts for advertising space across the Shire.