Rockhampton Regional Council hands down 2021-22 budget

Mayor Tony Williams called it a “tough and difficult” budget that will increase rates and focus on the long-term growth of Rockhampton.

Rockhampton councillors after adopting the 2021-22 budget.

Rockhampton Regional Council’s 2021-22 budget, released on Thursday morning, was praised by councillors as a foundation for 40 years of regional growth.

Mayor Tony Williams called it an “infrastructure budget” – albeit a “tough and difficult” one – because it contained $151 million for capital works, including $77 million over three years for the North Rockhampton and Gracemere Sewage Treatment plants, and the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant.

“These projects are the key to unlock a bigger and better Rockhampton because they allow us to service an additional 16,000 homes,” he said.

“At the same time, economic modelling predicts these projects will create a benefit to the local economy with 300 local jobs generated and $107 million added to the local economy.”

He said thanks to the treatment plants, Rockhampton could grow from 35,000 homes to more than 50,000.

The budget predicts Rockhampton’s population will grow by 1 per cent each year.

Total spending for 2021-22 is budgeted at $222 million, an increase of 5.4 per cent on the previous year.

Rates will increase by 3.35 per cent, or $2.26 a week for the typical ratepayer.

“We have done this in the face of reduced income from the airport, higher insurance costs, and the pressures from the ongoing drought in Mount Morgan, which is forcing us to cart water daily,” Cr Williams said.

“It’s not something we like to see. We realise everyone’s under pressure and financially it’s one that we have worked very diligently to try to keep that to as low as possible while also still delivering what our community needs as far as services.

“It’s one that we couldn’t shy away from with the current financial position that the council’s in.

“We needed to make these changes to prepare ourselves into the future so we’ve got that growth and accommodating that growth going forward.”

The budget revealed that if required, trucking water to Mount Morgan for the whole financial year would cost the council more than $3.2 million, and that help from the State Government “is not yet guaranteed”.

There is, however, a $1 million provision, half coming from grant funding, for a Mount Morgan Water Security Business Case.

The council expects to borrow $40 million and return to surplus next financial year, having reduced last year’s $5.4 million deficit to $2.1 million