Tyler Redway
Despite a proposed 6.5 per cent rate rise, the District Council of Robe is expected to operate at a $531k deficit for the next eight years.
Elected members voted to release the Robe Draft Long Term Financial Plan 2024-2034, the Draft Annual Business Plan 2024-2025 and the Lake Butler Marina Asset Management Plan for public consultation at a special meeting in May.
A total of $4.6m was allocated for capital expenditure, with about $4.4m of this going towards asset renewal and the other $248k going to newer projects and infrastructure.
Additionally, a package of $750k was allocated to the plans for a significant Robe Street upgrade in the Annual Business Plan.
District Council of Robe chief executive Nat Traeger said it was “fantastic” to be able to have a strategic direction for multiple council documents in the first half of the year.
Ms Traeger said a priority of the council was renewing current assets instead of focusing on newer projects.
“The council has not been spending as much money on asset renewal as they need to so in the last three years, the council has only been averaging 33 per cent of capital renewal when it should be 100 per cent,” Ms Traeger said.
“We should be renewing our assets at the same rate in which they are deteriorating.
“If you speak to anyone, they will tell you the District Council of Robe’s roads are not in a very good condition to which I concur.
“In the next year, we are up to a 247 per cent increase, so we are looking at more than double what we should be spending in a year to address the backlog.”
Ms Traeger said the deficit was anticipated to last until 2031 or 2032, which she said would be a “moving target”.
She said with the proper strategies to alleviate pressure of the deficit it could be possible to eliminate the deficit before the end of the Long Term Financial Plan’s term.
“For the first eight years of the plan, it would appear we would be operating at a deficit but that is because we haven’t been undertaking the financial strategies such as the costs of services or marina berth sales,” she said.
“I am quite confident we will be able to bring this deficit back down probably four years before the end of the plan.”
Ms Traeger said the fees of certain services such as waste management would be investigated to determine whether there were any unnecessary costs being passed onto ratepayers
She said the Robe Street project would be a large investment for the council and identified multiple approaches to how the project could receive the funding it needed to be completed.
“We have done a stage of community consultation with the businesses which operate along there (Robe Street) and they have said there needed to be some changes,” she said.
“That could potentially be a million dollar project, so the council will make some decisions on whether it uses its cash or if it goes with generational borrowing.
“The Robe Street project will last for 50 to 100 years, so if we drew up a loan for roughly 20 years then it means that next generations would fund this project through borrowings rather than just taking cash from our bank accounts.”
The Lake Butler Marina Asset Management Plan, which was first considered by council in October 2022, aimed to identify the lifetime values of the marina’s assets and create a 10 year financial plan
Ms Traeger said the marina was an important piece of infrastructure to Robe due to its potential to attract both tourist and fishing boats for the town’s economy.
“It (the marina) is a unique standalone asset which has different service levels because it services people who purchase the berths,” Ms Traeger said.
“It is a complex asset worth millions of dollars and there are a lot of commercial or recreational berths, so the way the council manages it needs to be quite transparent and make sure we are managing the asset so it isn’t a burden on future ratepayers in terms of large capital costs.
“It’s in a marine environment which makes a hefty contribution to Robe because it also has the potential to attract passing cruise vessels.
“It is a separate level of expertise to run a marina compared to renewing normal council assets such as parks, gardens and walking trails.”
Community consultation sessions for all three strategic documents began on May 23 and will run until June 24.
A community information session will be held on June 5 at the Robe Institute or online via Microsoft Teams.
