PORT Macquarie-Hastings Council has committed to commencing the next financial year with a balanced budget while injecting an additional $1.5 million into roads and footpaths.
The one-year operational plan 2014-2015, which was adopted at last week’s council meeting, listed all the actions, programs and activities the council will undertake.
The total expenditure next financial year will be about $205 million which includes $93 million in capital works projects and $15 million in repayments on loans.
As part of the suite of integrated planning and reporting documents, the Revenue Policy 2014-2015 was adopted along with the fees and charges and rating maps for the next financial year.
Mayor Peter Besseling acknowledged that the balanced budget position was one of the challenges that the council had set itself.
“In recent years council had begun the financial year with a deficit and worked hard throughout the year to look for savings,” he said.
“It was really important to the councillors to develop a balanced budget from the outset, so that any savings or efficiencies that we gain can potentially go into increasing the level of service being provided or repaying debt.”
Councillors acknowledged the community feedback that had been received on the draft plan and budget and the impact this feedback had on the final plan.
The public exhibition of the draft planning documents generated 47 submissions and since this time councillors and staff have participated in a workshop and detailed reviews of the feedback.
A number of changes have been made to the draft plan as a direct result.
The report to councillors outlined all the submissions received and the response to each issue along with the document enhancement and performance measurement changes that staff had identified during the exhibition process.
“Outlining a plan for more than $200 million in activities is not a simple task.
“It involves co-ordinating the community opinions, the financial data along with staff expertise and councillor expectations,” Cr Besseling said.
“I’m confident we’ve adopted a solid set of planning documents for next financial year that will see council deliver services that meet many of the community priorities within an improved financial position.”
