CAROLINE Springs is the big winner in Melton Shire Council’s latest budget forecast, with almost $17 million earmarked for new buildings in the next financial year.
A new sports hall, library and civic centre form part of the council’s mammoth $88 million budget, the biggest in the shire’s history.
A large proportion of the total spending will be directed into capital works, including roads, footpaths and other infrastructure.
Ratepayers, however, will be hit with a 3 per cent rate increase, while the municipality will borrow a further $8 million to cover costs.
A new sports stadium, already in the public arena, will be built in Caroline Springs with a price tag of $8.5 million.
A new civic centre and library will also be built at a cost to ratepayers of $8.2 million.
Both buildings will stand on Caroline Springs Boulevard, and should be built by the end of the year.
“This is an aggressive budget to meet the needs of our growing community, and continues some of the work started in the last financial year,” mayor Chris Papas said last week.
“Generally, councillors are happy with borrowing the $8m suggested to help fund the important community assets that will serve us well into the future.”
Cr Papas said the draft budget would now be open to the public at an information session at the Melton Community Hall, on 5 June.
It will then be formally debated and adopted at a council meeting on 26 June.
The budget marks Melton’s biggest spending spree and, at $88 million, is almost $19 million more than the previous budget.
Other major projects include building a $2.2 million Melton Youth Centre, and $750,000 for the Tenderfield Sports Field Development.
More than $3 million will be spent on local roads.
The budget can be downloaded from the council website at www.melton.vic.gov.au or a copy can be seen at the Melton Civic Centre.
