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Mareeba Shire Council 2015-16 BUDGET
Local crowned Cairns Show Girl Former Atherton Maize Festival Queen Taleesha Fegatilli has been crowned ‘Cairns Miss Show Girl’ for 2015. The title came as a surprise to the 22 year old, who will represent Cairns in the regional titles; and if successful the state titles in August this year. “We had to attend various functions and a rather daunting interview or judging process; but i quite enjoyed the whole experience, it was held at the De Jarlais pavilion at the Cairns Showgrounds,” she said. Taleesha will give away sashes and prizes to winners at the 2015 Cairns Show.
Mayor of Mareeba Shire Council Tom Gilmore brought down the 2015/16 budget at a special Council meeting held last Wednesday, June 3. The following is from the Mayor’s budget speech: "This budget builds on the foundations which were set firmly in place by our previous budget of 2014-15 which has established the relatively sound fiscal position that this Council has now achieved,” is how Mayor Tom Gilmore has described Mareeba Shire Council's Budget for 2015-2016, which was handed down at last Wednesdays budget meeting. The budget this year for capital expenditure is forecast to be $36.76 million; including funding for works to Councils extensive road network and items contained therein, such as: reseals, gravel road re-sheets, bridges, drainage and footpaths which will total approximately $5.978 million. In handing down the budget, Cr Gilmore noted, the recent appraisal of our finances and long-term viability by the Queensland Treasury Corporation which raised our future prospects as “moderate/neutral”, a vast improvement from the “very weak/negative” position predicted. "In achieving this, this Council has taken some very difficult decisions over the past year in a comprehensive restructure of our organisation, in reassessing our busi-
ness model and by the very careful establishment of new levels of service delivery which are compatible with the expectations of the community and reside within the community's capacity to pay," he said. "In this budget, increases for rates and charges are limited to a flat rate of 3.5 per cent. Further, this budget is balanced with the full funding of depreciation. This budget takes into account the repayment of the loan provided to the Mareeba Shire Council by the Queensland Treasury Corporation to fund the cost of de-amalgamation which will be repaid in full by 30 June, 2015 using existing Council reserves. As per our commitment last year, no de-amalgamation levy will be imposed. “This budget is very closely aligned to that predicted in our forecast of last year and to our 10 year financial plan; and has been designed to build on past decisions and to further lock in a sustainable future. “In recognition of the difficult times being faced by pensioners in our community, we have retained the pensioner discount of up to a maximum $240 on general rates.” All service charges, including water, sewerage and waste are increased by 3.5 per cent to ensure the viability of these services into the future. CONTINUED PAGE 3
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