REVEALED: What council will vote on at today’s budget meeting

THE South Burnett Times was given access to a draft copy of SBRC’s 2020/21 budget, here’s what we found

South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto will address the challenging 2020/21 budget in todays special budget meeting. File Photo.

SOUTH Burnett Regional Council Mayor Brett Otto is preparing to address the 2020/21 budget at a special budget meeting today, just three months after being elected.

This budget has been one of the toughest to date, with the impacts of drought and COVID-19 weighing heavily upon the council - particularly in the area of revenue.

With that being said, the net operating result for 2020/21, or excess of revenue over expenses, comes out at a surplus of $3.7 million.

The lion’s share of the council’s operating revenue comes from rates, levies and charges, which account for $50 million of the total $67.1 million.

It remains to be seen whether ratepayers will fork out more cash under this budget.

The total operation expenditure - including employee benefits, contracts, materials and services, donations, finance costs, and depreciation and amortisation - comes out at $70.8 million.

Similarly to the 2018/19 budget, road maintenance will be a priority in coming years. The total capital budget planned for 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 is $38.2 million, $22.5 million of which has been allocated for Road Projects.

The council plans to allocate a further $5.8 million for building and property, $3.7 million for wastewater, $3 million for water, $2.3 million for plant and fleet, $480 000 for information services, and $350 000 for waste.

External sources of funding for the planned capital budget will be contributed by TIDS Funding, the School and Transport Infrastructure Program, the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, the Drought Communities Program, Building Better Regions, Roads to Recovery, and Works for Queensland.

The budget is set to be reviewed at today’s special budget meeting.

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