Breaking Down the Shire Budget 

Frequently asked question about our 2025/26 Budget

Where does the Shire get its income?

Our operating income for 2025/26 is estimated to be $50 million.

Around two thirds (62%) of the Shire’s operating revenue comes from rates – which are a property tax landowners pay annually to their local council to help pay for the services, facilities and infrastructure needed by the community. 

We also get 29% of our income from fees and charges for a range of services including kerbside waste collection, recreation centre use and swimming lessons, animal registrations and planning services.
Smaller sources of operational funding include grants (5%) and interest (4%).

What are the Shire’s main areas of expenditure

Our annual operating expenditure is around $59.3 million, with an additional $25.9 million allocated for capital works to renew or upgrade our community’s assets.

Services are at the core of what we do which is why employee costs are our largest expense (41%). We also maintain assets with a value of more than $390 million like roads, footpaths, and community buildings, so around 25% of our operating costs are for materials and contractors. Additionally, these assets lose value over time, due to wear and use, which is why depreciation is also a big expense (26%).

Your expenses are more than the income – does this mean you won’t breakeven?

We’re constantly planning for the future, and our 2025/26 budget is part of a ten-year Long Term Financial Plan.  When we know we have big projects coming up we create ‘reserves’, which are like savings. 

We currently have around $32 million in various reserves allocated for specific purposes. In years when we need to, we draw down on these reserves which also helps us avoid sudden rate increases in later years.
Over the next 12 months we’ll use some of these funds for important projects including: 

• Replacement of our 20-year-old Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) computer software system to make our processes more efficient and ultimately make it easier for the community to work with us ($1.7 million)
• Capping of Davis Road landfill and plan for a new recycling and waste transfer station ($4million)

How does Council decide where to invest?

Since April, we’ve undertaken regular workshops between elected members and Shire staff to determine the minimum level investment we need from rates to deliver the projects our community wants, and what projects should be undertaken this year or in the future.

We are guided by the Shire’s Strategic Community Plan 2025-2035 which outlines what our residents have told us is most important to them, and the associated Corporate Business Plan 2025-2029. 

The biggest expense is employee costs – why is this so much and why will it increase 12.9% this year?

Services are at the core of what we do which is why employee costs are our largest expense. We have a workforce of 218 full-time equivalents which includes the rangers who patrol our beaches and public open space, the teams of staff who maintain our roads, parks and reserves, the staff who oversee planning, building and environmental health services and the staff that run our recreation centres, libraries and performing arts centre. 

Our staff costs, including wages and superannuation, are expected to increase by $2.668 million (12.9%).  We’ve budgeted for 11 additional full-time staff, but it’s important to note nine of these positions are within the Recreation Centre with only two positions for the rest of the organisation.  This is a very modest and appropriate increase, especially when you consider our rapidly growing population and the unprecedented demand for Shire services, demonstrating our commitment to innovation and efficiency.

Our decision making is explained further below.

1. Increased demand for Recreation Centre services – Visitation at the Recreation Centre has nearly doubled over the last 12 months, plus we have seen increased demand for services such as Outside School Hours Care, Swim School and Fitness Centre. These services are highly valued by our community which we simply can not deliver without qualified instructors and childcare professionals so we have had to employ 9 new staff members.  It's also important to note, income from fees and charges taken at the recreation centres completely offset this increase in staff cost.
2. Our growing population is increasing demand for our services - our permanent resident population continues to increase with around 3 people moving to our shire every day. A larger permanent population means we need more staff to continue to deliver our services and carry out increased maintenance across our infrastructure and community facilities.  For example, in the past 12 months we’ve seen customer enquiries significantly increase. We’ve processed 21% more building and 15% more planning applications, 20% more event permits, and processed over 600 dog registrations or renewals. We’re also managing significantly more waste through our waste facility, with more than 10,100 kerbside collections each week, an increase of 315 in the last financial year.  
3. We’ve increased wages - our staff are members of our community experiencing the same cost of living increases affecting us all. As part of the Shire’s Industrial Agreement, our staff are entitled to a 4.25% wage increase, as well as a step increment for eligible employees.
4. Super contributions and workers compensation insurance have increased - the Federal government has increased compulsory super contributions from 11.5% to 12% effective from 1 July 2025. In addition our workers compensation insurance premiums have increased by 8%. 

Why have Councillors being paid more? 

Being a councillor is an important and demanding role that requires a significant time commitment.
People don’t typically serve on council for the money - they step away from their jobs and personal lives to serve our community and make decisions that shape its future.

Elected councillors don’t receive a salary like a regular employee. Instead, they are paid annual fees and allowance to cover expenses, recognise their time, and compensate them for community service.

The fees and allowances paid to elected members is set within ranges which is determined by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Councils then endorse the amount paid to elected members as part of their annual budget deliberations

SAT recently increased the amount ranges. Additionally, as part of 2025/26 budget consideration, Council has resolved to set elected member allowances at the top of the allowable range.

Setting the allowance at the top of the range ensures councillors are fairly compensated for their responsibilities and sacrifices, and in the lead-up to the Local Government elections will help us attract strong candidates from diverse backgrounds.

The total 2025-2026 budget for councillor sitting fees and allowances is $305,719 excluding superannuation. 
Following is a breakdown of the individual allowances:
 

In addition to the above, councillors are entitled to be reimbursed for specific expenses such as travel and childcare in accordance with policy. 

Read our 2025/26 budget press release here
Read more about our major projects here.