Kiama Council has finalised its Delivery Program, Operational Plan, Budget, Long Term Financial Plan and Fees and Charges for 2023-24.
The Delivery Program and Operational Plan outline Council’s activities, projects, and programs for the year ahead, and support the Kiama Community Strategic Plan 2022-32.
The $124 million Budget for 2023-24 underpins these activities, projects and programs within the parameters of the Strategic Improvement Plan, Kiama Municipal Liquidity Plan and Financial Sustainability and Cash Flow Strategy.
The Budget shows an overall surplus of $18.5 million, due to a predicted $31.2 million from the gain or profit from asset sales, primarily the forecast sale of Blue Haven Bonaira.
Excluding sale of assets, the budget is actually in deficit by $12.7 million.
The $13.9 million Capital Works Program is mainly financed from external sources such as grants.
This includes $4.2 million of rephased projects and carry over works from 2022-23.
The funding allocation for asset maintenance will ensure a consistent level of service for our community.
The Budget includes a larger wages bill, with a 5 per cent increase in the Local Government Award and 15 per cent increase for aged care workers (funded by the Australian Government).
Property owners will see an average rate increase of 4.2 per cent, reflecting the 5.1 per cent increase set by the NSW Government offset by the reversal of last year’s temporary rate variation of 0.9 per cent.
However, the stormwater and domestic waste charges remain unchanged, pending a review of waste management, hire services and cleaning operations.
These and other service reviews are included in the Long-Term Financial Plan 2023-24, which sets out how Council will achieve the objectives of the Community Strategic Plan, and this will be resourced and funded.
Following the public exhibition period and feedback, the Community Engagement Strategy has not been included in the program, plans and budget documents at this stage, to allow for further development in consultation with both internal and external stakeholders.
