MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has pulled off a dramatic financial turnaround, cutting its projected ten-year deficit from $296m to just $3m in less than a year. The change follows councillors’ adoption of the shire’s ten-year Financial Plan 2025-26 to 2035-36 at their public meeting on 30 October. The plan now forecasts a $67.2m cash balance by 2035 – a significant shift from the $3m cash deficit projected last December. The new plan includes financial levers to guide council decisions on long-term sustainability, which will also be “considered in detail” through the annual budget process. Key findings reveal that from the fifth…
Browsing: budget
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors have adopted a record budget of $326.3m amid growing community angst over cuts to arts, culture, and environmental programs. Deputy mayor Paul Pingiaro conceded some “tough decisions” were needed to move the council forward, noting “there was a lot of things that we can always do better – but moving forward, that’s what we’ll do as an organisation”. “What we have in front of us is a budget that will hopefully deliver quite a few savings – they’re unrealised at the moment, the work’s getting done, and if the work gets done, we can open up…
DESPITE having some reservations about the name, Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors have agreed to investigate having a “watchdog” citizens panel to look over their shoulders when considering annual council budgets.It is too late for the panel to be established for the coming year’s budget and, if followed through, the watchdog panel would work with a new council after the October elections.Chief financial officer Bulent Oz said an alternative could be to name a meeting of the existing citizens panel “a Budget Watchdog session”. Discussing budget performance and financial goals with the Citizens Panel “will provide valuable insights”, he said. “It…
A RATEPAYER group has accused Mornington Peninsula Shire of “deliberately” adopting a budget strategy for 2013-14 “designed to mislead the public”. The shire proposes a 5.9 per cent lift in the general rate in the dollar. This does not include the 12.5 per cent hike to a major compulsory charge, the municipal charge. This gives “the appearance of the rate rise being less than 6 per cent”, the Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association says. Calculations show that increasing the municipal charge by $20 to $180 will bring the rates rise to 7.7 per cent. In a letter to the…