Council
2 July, 2026
Economic realities force tough Budget
CORANGAMITE Shire Council unanimously adopted its 2026-2027 Budget this week, which councillors believe reflects the difficult economic circumstances residents are living through.
The 2026/2027 Budget includes a total commitment of $62,593,165 with an operating expenditure of $43,224,556, capital works program of $19,053,109 and $315,500 transferred to reserves.
The Budget will push Corangamite Shire Council 14 per cent into the red, with an expected $2 million deficit.
Amendments to the Draft Budget include an improvement of $41,966 to the net operating result due to an increase in rates of charges following the release of revaluation data and an increase in materials and services expense of $30,400 due to an increase in recreation reserves management.
Councillor Geraldine Conheady spoke as mover, congratulating all involved on delivering what she considers to be the best Budget given the circumstances.
“A huge amount of effort goes into getting it right, so thank you so much to everyone for all of that work,” she said.
“As councillors we can happily say we are continuing to maintain financial stability and continuing to look after the quality services that remain a strong focus in the 2026/2027 Budget.
“While we’re running a small operating deficit of $2 million, that is somewhat of a consequence of a constrained environment that we’re currently in and everyone is feeling it.
“It is making it increasingly difficult to present a balanced Budget these days but I think that’s a relatively small deficit in the scheme of things.
“The thing is our key performance indicators are healthy and we have an increased allocation in our Capital Works Program of $19.05 million, which is pretty good for a council our size.”
Among the big-ticket items funded was $320,000 in the Council Grants Programs, $250,000 to implement the Early Years Plan 2025-235, $275,000 to implement the Swimming Pool Renewal audit findings, $250,000 to implement the Urban Street Tree Asset Management program and $280,000 for upgrade works at Terang Stadium.
“I’ll shout out to my own ward and say I am pleased our operating budget includes $280,000 for the Terang Stadium upgrade, which will be very welcomed in the Terang community,” Cr Conheady said.
“The Capital Works Program also includes implementing our Early Years Plan 2025-2035 ($250,000) and we’re also spending almost $10 million on our roads.”
Deputy mayor Cr Laurie Hickey as seconder said all involved had agonised over the Budget for “months and months”.
“It’s been a particularly tough environment,” he said.
“We’ve seen costs rise, we all know that, and government funding isn’t keeping pace with those costs.
“A lot of services and costs are being shifted onto local councils and on top of that contractors and materials remain a challenge.
“It’s all putting pressure on the Budget to complete our works and community expectations are that we continue to provide the services that is demanded to an acceptable level.”
Cr Hickey said the ongoing impacts of bushfires and drought were also making it tough on residents and council.
“We see our communities recovering from drought and fire earlier in the year and recovery doesn’t even when the flames go out – there’s challenges when the smoke is still hovering in the air, and later,” he said.
Council will rake in more than $1 million above what was collected from rates under the previous Budget.
Residents will be hit with a three per cent rate cap increase with $27,936,763 to be collected from rates, representing 46.3 per cent of council’s forecast revenue.
“Rates capping in place means we just can’t put rates up willy-nilly to cover our increasing costs, it means we have to make very careful choices – fair choices – and we need to focus on what matters, and every dollar is spent wisely on what makes is in the best interests of Corangamite Shire,” Cr Hickey said.