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Shire set for 5.9% rate rise David Harrison david@mpnews.com.au
Memories to grow at Crib Point CRIB Point Primary children honoured their forebears last week by planting a Gallipoli oak seedling presented by the National Trust. Principal Lisa Vandenbosch said the school was one of 500 across Victoria to receive a seedling, the progeny of acorns taken from trees growing
Sacred ground: Crib Point Primary’s Gallipoli oak seedling gets a watering from school captains Nathan and Chantelle. Picture: Gary Sissons
on the war-torn Turkish peninsula brought home by returning soldiers. About 60cm high, the seedling was planted at the front of the school near a memorial pathway bordered by plaques with the names of the six World War I soldiers who attended the school more than 100 years ago. They
are WP Ford, LJ Ford, WA Lamble, LF Garth, H Bleasdale and C Harte. Guests at the ceremony included Crib Point RSL vice-president Frank Penfold, HMAS Cerberus Sub Lieutenant Katherine Mulheron, HMAS Cerberus museum curator Toni Munday and Cr David Garnock.
SHIRE rates will rise 5.9 per cent for 2015-16, councillors have decided in the budget document now available at shire offices, libraries and online. Further budget submissions can be made on 11 June at a special meeting in the Rosebud shire office. The rate rise is the same as last year’s and, for the third successive year the municipal charge has been held at $180 a property. CEO Carl Cowie told a recent council meeting the charge would be reviewed for the next budget. Some took this to mean it might be reduced or even abolished entirely. The mayor Cr Bev Colomb said the budget focussed on speeding up debt repayment and preparing for rate capping by the state government, which will curb shire rates income from next year. Other priorities were: possible future loans to cover the defined benefits superannuation scheme; limits on funding from the federal and state government; and “long term community needs and aspirations”. “My councillor colleagues and I are very aware of financial pressures that many in our community face and our rates will continue to be among the lowest in the state,” Cr Colomb said, urging people to read the budget “to understand council’s priorities over the next 12 months”. Mr Cowie, who started work at the
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shire on 1 December last year, pointed to “significant changes ahead where a prudent financial approach is imperative to ensure that the shire is on a solid footing for the decades to come”. He was hired by councillors to reorganise the shire finances and structure, a process he began with a preliminary trimming of staff – the first step to “unlock maximum value for the community” – and a declared interest in contracting out unspecified shire work. “All aspects of shire operations will continue to be reviewed, reducing costs wherever possible, whether this is through innovation, truly competitive tendering, process improvements, supply-chain enhancements, or enhanced technology solutions,” Mr Cowie said. “Sound financial control is an essential element of any business ... we are a large business, with a high level of responsibility to the community.” Rates income of $146.1 million is up $8.4 million from last year, about $800,000 of this coming from new properties. A steady but modest rise in rates revenue is predicted through to 2018-19. Additional income comes from the optional green waste service ($2.95 million), bringing the “total rates and charges revenue” to just over $149 million. The $180 municipal charge raises $17.66 million of this. Similarly, the cost of services is budgeted to rise moderately from now until 2018-19. Continued Page 6
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