Noosa Council’s ‘back to basics’ budget

NOOSA Council has announced its ‘back to basics’ budget for 2023–24 with the average residential ratepayer facing a 5.5 per cent increase – equivalent to an extra $1.72 per week – on their total rates notice.

Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart said it’s been the toughest budget faced by this council.

“We continue to deliver an $80 million flood recovery program, and deal with inflationary pressures and massive land valuation increases for the second successive year.

“We have taken a sensible approach to our spending – for most property owners, rates increases are below CPI – while dealing with the increasing costs of building new infrastructure and maintaining services,” she said.

While the average residential ratepayer faces a 5.5 per cent increase on their total rates notice, 4,000 property owners will have a drop in their total rates bill, equivalent to a cup of coffee every week, because of the mechanisms implemented to combat the unprecedented land valuations.

“We have worked extremely hard to mitigate the extraordinary land valuation increases – which averaged a 62.5 per cent increase across the shire – as well as ease the burden on ratepayers as much as possible,” Cr Stewart said.

Cr Stewart said Council wasn’t immune to the current inflationary conditions, construction costs which had risen by as much as 30 per cent, and rising utility charges.

“Like all households and businesses, we also deal with these rising costs, and this budget represents responsible decision-making in extremely challenging economic times,” she said.

The ‘back to basics’ budget has a focus on building infrastructure, helping pensioners, and maintaining liveability to ensure a bright future for the shire.

Nearly 5,000 pensioners have been given a helping hand by consolidating the pensioner rebates, with all eligible pensioners now receiving the full rebate of $230 per year, whether they are single or a couple.

“We know pensioners have been hit hard by the cost-of-living pressures so all councillors were unanimous about making the rebate more equitable for all eligible pensioners,” Cr Stewart said.

There’s also been a freeze on levies: the Environment, Sustainable Transport, Heritage, and Bushfire Resilience and Recovery levies remain at last year’s amounts.

The budget also responds to the newly adopted Corporate Plan, delivering a number of key initiatives in year one such as progressing the Destination Management Plan, starting the Reconciliation Action Plan, and continuing to advocate and secure funding partnerships to implement the Housing Action Plan.

An investment of $39.4 million is for capital works; almost a third of the funds will be spent on the road and transport network and a further $6 million to replace or upgrade bridges.

“This budget has a focus of improving our liveability, prosperity, and continuing to support the preservation of our natural environment.”

Cr Stewart said the 2023–24 budget gets the balance right by putting residents first while maintaining fundamental services to the community.

“We have put our residents first and this budget strikes a balance between investing in our future and living within our means.”