2008-2009 Annual Business Plan and Budget
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2008-2009 Annual Business Plan and Budget Light Regional Council PO Box 72 KAPUNDA SA 5373 Ph: (08) 8525 3200 Fax: ( 08) 8566 3262 Email: [email protected] a.gov.au 93 Main Street KAPUNDA SA 5373 2008-2009 Annu al Business Plan 2 Contents Overview Opening Commentary from the Mayor and 3 Chief Executive Officer State Legislation 5 Public Consultation 5 Glossary of Terms 6 General Information 8 Assess ment of 2007/08 Financial Y ear Objectives 10 Strategic Plan and Long Ter m Objectiv es 22 2008/09 Annual Objectives and Activities (inc luding 24 performance measures) Financial Requirements and Summary of Financial 31 Statements Rating Structur e and Policy 39 Financial Impacts of Infrastr ucture Management 43 Summary Tables of Income and Ex penditure 46 Loan Pr incipal Repay ments 49 Summary of Total Expenditure and Income 51 2008-2009 Annu al Business Plan 3 Overview Opening Commentary fro m t he Mayor and Chief Exec utiv e Officer The Annual Business Plan sets out the Council’s propos ed serv ices, programs and projects f or the 2008/ 2009 f inancial y ear. It aims to maintain eff icient serv ices for the community and to undertake significant inf rastructure dev elopment f or the benefit of the region as a whole. Specific objectiv es f or the year are consistent with the strategies and actions discussed in Council’s draf t Strategic Management Plan f or the period cov ering t he years 2008 to 2018. The new ten year plan is currently in draft f orm and has been released f or public comm ent during June 2008. The Public C onsultation period will cover the month of July 2008 with a report due back t o Council to adopt the plan in August. It is a comprehensiv e document whic h f ocuses on the big picture while placing due regard on core programs and t he philos ophy of place management. Strat egic Plan The central tenet of Council’s new strategic plan is to promote the opport unity for developm ent and growth within t he region, not f or growth’s sake, but sust ainable developm ent which adds value and quality inf rastructure to a region that has a unique blend of urban purs uit, industrial and comm ercial venture, and rural enterprise. The Plan has direct linkages into the South Australian St ate Strategic Plan and the work being undertaken by groups such as the Wakefield Group and the Baross a Regional Spatial Framework group of Councils, and reports such as the Wine Industry Impact Review. It talks about maintaining core serv ices but places a premium on the developm ent of appropriat e infrastructure (such as W aste Water Treatment Plants) to manage to project ed residential, comm ercial and industrial development predict ed to occur within the Council region in the next few years. For example Counc il is already aware of the potential f or 1,000 residential allotm ents coming on stream wit hin existing t ownship boundaries in the short to medium term. Dev elopment of 330 allotm ents has already commenced in the Freeling Township to the nort h and south of Hanson Street, while a f urther 60 allotment subdiv ision is currently being developed at Greenock. Council has been one of the f astest growing Councils per head of population in South Australia for a number of years, with the trend set to continue going f orward. Council’s Urban Planning strategy is central t o the plan as Counc il must m aint ain appropriate controls to ensure proper dev elopments occur. The plan places a f ocus on C ouncil’s operational financial sustainability (conserv ativ ely predicted to be achieved in the 2013/2014 f inancial year) but also establis hes a definitive planned road inf rastructure f unding program. This program is built on the back of the Accelerated Roads Funding Program introduced in the 2007/ 2008 f inancial y ear, when Council recognized that t he quality of road inf rastruct ure was an issue f or its community and then t aking the bold step to f und (by borrowings) those road works to the value $5. 0m over the 2007/2008 and 2008/ 2009 periods. Annual Objectiv es The 2008/2009 f inancial year looms as a particularly exciting one for the Light R egional Council wit h many and varied major outcomes expected. Council’s Annual Business Planning proc ess is an opportunity to reass ess Council’s position relativ e to the needs of present and f uture communities within the Council area. These needs include, maintaining and improving the management of major inf rastruct ure assets, providing community support programs, maint aining and improving open space, improving the community ’s access to information, building a strong economy and maint aining our nat ural resources. A balanc e is required bet ween delivering community outcomes and maintaining financial sustainability. 2008-2009 Annu al Business Plan 4 In partic ular the f inal adoption of the 2008 to 2018 Strategic Management Plan projecting Council’s future direction will be a major highlight. The document is designed to be updat ed as needed. Aligned t o this is the adoption of the Infrastructure and Ass et Management Plan. Council is keen t o maint ain its input into t he “Barossa Belt” Regional Spatial Plan being developed in conjunction with The Baross a, Gawler and Mallala Councils and State Government agencies. Input is als o being prov ided by ot her neighbouring Councils. The plan is to highlight f uture dev elopment areas and to put appropriate strategies in plac e f rom both planning and infrastructure and assets management pers pectives to ens ure orderly developm ent across t he entire region. Council’s $4.0m road works program during 2008/ 2009 will see the final st age of the Accelerated Road Works Program completed, howev er the program sets t he stage for t he reinv igorated capital works program being considered as part of the new Strat egic Plan. Coupled with t he development of an Asset R ationalis ation F und (f or f uture funding of comm unity projects), and the Federal Government f unded $6.0m upgrade of the Main North Road (in partners hip wit h the Department f or Transport, Energy and Inf rastructure), places the f ocus f airly and squarely on better roads. The prov ision of new and upgraded public conveniences throughout the t owns of the region will also be a major f ocus this year. Review and design of community facilities off ered at Hewett and Kapunda (Dutton Park) f orm part of Council’s vision. Council is partic ularly keen to have the redevelopm ent of Freeling Main Street (on ground works) progress ed and f inalised, after hav ing a substantial am ount of grant funding provided f rom the State Government f or this project (undergrounding of power occurred in the 2007/2008 financial year). Planning will continue for the undergrounding of power at Murray Street, Greenock. From an operational sense, C ouncil will look to implement a ‘s peedy’ development application system for new subdiv ision residential developments. Council resolv ed to increase revenue rec eiv ed f rom general rates by 7.5%, that is the annual cost of liv ing or Cons umer Price Index f igure over the past t welve months (4.5% to the period ending 31 Marc h 2008), and t he impact of assessment growt h through t he creation of newly rateable properties in the Light Region (2% to 21 June 2008). An additional 1% general rate revenue will also be raised specif ically for the purposes of funding inf rastructure projects. Council c annot reach its goals in is olation. We will als o use our resources efficiently by collaborating wit h other s ectors of the community and spheres of government t o maximise benef its f or our local community . We must f ind a balance in our decision making bet ween social, cultural, economic and env ironmental issues to ens ure our region remains strong, now and in the f uture. Robert Hornsey, Mayor Brian Carr, Chief Executive Officer 2008-2009 Annu al Business Plan 5 State Legislation Section 123 of the Local Gov ernment Act 1999 describes that Councils must do certain things when considering the issue of budgets: • A council must have a Budget for each financial year. • Each budget must comply wit h standards and principles presc ribed by legislation and must be adopted af ter 31 May and bef ore 31 August f or the f inancial y ear. • A council must prepare an An nu al B u si n e ss Pl an which addresses the activities that the council intends t o undert ake in the ens uing year to achiev e its objectiv es; and t he measures (f inancial and non-f inancial) that the c ouncil will use to assess its perf ormance against its objectives. Legislation among other things requires Councils in t his Stat e to prov ide a great er emphasis on long term financial planning and infrastructure and ass et management planning. Council will have these plans in place during the 2008 calendar year. These requirements in partic ular will see an increased focus of resources by Council in the f orthcoming f inancial year when it finalises its Strat egic Plan covering the period 2008-2018.