This was published 7 years ago
Brisbane City Council budget 2017-2018: Quirk's 'lifestyle' budget has roads, transport at heart
By Ruth McCosker
Dubbed the "lifestyle" budget, Brisbane City Council's $3 billion plan for 2017-18 is dominated by road projects, a new transport system for the city and the beginnings of an upgrade to the Mt Coot-tha precinct.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk handed down his seventh budget on Wednesday morning, which hit Brisbane ratepayers with a 2.4 per cent average rates increase, or about $37 a year.
The minimum rates for owner-occupiers and non-owner occupiers will also increase.
For owner-occupier residential, the minimum rates will increase from $635.88 to $685.88, while non-owner occupiers will be hit with a $75 increase to $894.24.
Road projects, a new transport system and a 2.4 per cent average rate rise are in the Brisbane City Council 2017-18 budget.Credit: Fairfax Image
Cr Quirk said it was "nice to build new things" in Brisbane, but it would come at a cost.
"I make no apologies for making sure that our city keeps pace in regards to infrastructure delivery, public transport delivery, taking action on traffic congestion and maintaining a superior lifestyle to anywhere else in Australia," he said.
The cost of two major projects – the $650 million Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade and the $944 million Brisbane Metro – could be linked to a 8.2 per cent increase in the net debt per capita, up from the 7.2 per cent increase in 2016-17.
Finance chairwoman Krista Adams said future borrowings were looking better than they were a year ago thanks to changes to the Brisbane Metro.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said it was "nice to build new things" in Brisbane, but it would come at a cost.Credit: Chris Hyde
"Over the next decade we will see that reduction, predominantly reduced by the $425 million we reduced the metro by," she said.
The 2017-18 budget showed the borrowing figure at $49.6 million for the next financial year and forward estimates indicated borrowings would jump to $478 million in 2018-19 before the construction of the Brisbane Metro started.
Borrowings were then predicted to drop to $14 million in 2019-20.
Along with funding for the Brisbane Metro, the budget revealed ongoing financial commitment to several election promises as well as several new initiatives.
The new initiatives include:
- Council's bus safety review - $2.7 million
- Brisbane River, bays and waterways activations - $7.9 million
- Linking Toowong cemetery and Mt Coot-tha gardens - $1.1 million
- Internal "love food hate waste" movement - $1 million
- Celebrate Expo 88's 30th anniversary - $555,000
- Musgrave Pool refurbishment - $5.8 million
- Commence design and construction of a new CityCat - $4 million
- Support the Wynnum Beach volleyball activation project - $112,000
- Commence construction of the green camp road corridor - $27.2 million
The plans to reinvigorate Mt Coot-tha as a major tourist destination in Brisbane received the first of the $11.5 million to be spent over four years.
The promised zip-line on Mt Coot-tha was getting closer, with $710,000 allocated in this year's budget.
Next year's budget showed a further $935,000, while the $170,000 was shown for 2019-20 to finish off the project.
Cr Quirk said the expressions of interest for the zip-line were now being considered in detail.
"I have allocated $710,000 to get this process started with the aim of having people zipping down the mountain in 2019," he said.
This year's budget shows the Mt Coot-tha upgrade project receiving $1 million for improvements to the Simpson Park walkways and $2 million for the walks at the JC Slaughter Falls regions.
In the lead-up to the budget, Cr Quirk announced a $43 million commitment over four years for five on-water docking facilities designed to improve Brisbane's river-based tourism and recreation industry.
The five mooring facilities will be set up at City Botanic Gardens, New Farm Park, West End and two locations at South Bank.
These facilities will improve access for day trips to Moreton and Stradbroke Island.
Brisbane's road network will receive $1 billion, one third of the budget, over the next financial year to complete major projects such as Kingsford Smith Drive ($223 million), Telegraph Road ($81 million), Wynnum Road ($30 million), Inner City Bypass ($10 million) as well as 250 minor projects and the resurfacing of 650 streets.
Other key roadworks projects include:
- Finishing Bracken Ridge's Telegraph Road project - $81 million
- Heathwood's Stapylton Road and Johnson Road intersection - $10.3m
- Mt Gravatt's Player Street Connection - $8.7 million
- Wakerley's Green Camp Road - $8.6 million
- McDowall's Beckett Road and Hamilton Road - $3.6 million
- Ashgrove's Waterworks Road $1.9 million.
On Tuesday, council opposition leader Peter Cumming said there was nothing new about the road projects.
"Street resurfacing is no big deal. It is core council activity," Cr Cumming said.
Other budget highlights included:
- $69 million for libraries
- $28.3 million for bikeways
- $17.6 million for aquatic centres
- $249,000 to expand suburban free Wi-Fi
In addition to new projects in the city, $6.3 million has been allocated to attracting tourism and major events.
Cr Quirk said Brisbane was becoming a destination of choice for major events.
"I have ensured that in the 2017-2018 budget I have increased the leisure, tourism, conventions and major events allocation to $6.3 million," he said.
Cr Cumming said the Quirk administration had delivered a pay more, get less budget that showed incompetence.
Cr Cumming said ratepayers had been slugged 30 per cent above inflation with Cr Quirk's personal rate hike tally totally 23.5 per cent since he was appointed mayor six years ago.
"The past 12 months have been a year of financial disaster for Cr Quirk, with council having blown $60 million on a bungled IT contract and paid online fraudsters more than $450,000," he said.
"Now Brisbane residents are being asked to foot the bill.
"It's a pay more, get less budget.
"This LNP council is arrogant and out of touch with what's happening in the suburbs.
"People are being forced to tighten their belts and can't absorb any more hip-pocket pain from Quirk's financial mismanagement."
When Cr Cumming was asked what he would have done differently in the budget he said it was hard to tell what would have happened in terms to rates rise, but believed the Kingsford Smith Drive project was unnecessary
"It's very hard to say when you're not part of the internal system of council to see at what rate costs are increasing," he said.
"It's very difficult to make that sort of judgement from opposition."
- Additional reporting by Tony Moore