Geelong council rates rise explained, why councillor wants state funding for libraries

Geelong residents will pay close to $300m in rates and charges in 2023-24, while one of their councillors wants to call on government officials to support funding for the city’s libraries.

Residents will pay hundreds of millions in rates in 2023-24.

Geelong residents will pay close to $300m in rates and charges in 2023-24, while one of councillor wants to call on government officials to support funding for the city’s libraries.

Geelong’s 2023-24 rates and 2023-24 budget will go before council at its June 27 meeting, with the budget set to include almost $1m in additional funding for key services the community has rallied to keep.

These include the city’s library services, the Kardinia Park outdoor pool, and surf life saving clubs on the Bellarine.

Residential rates will increase an average 3.5 per cent, in line with the state government rate cap.

A total of $298.77m will be raised by general rates and the annual service charge for the period from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

The amended plan for how Geelong council proposes to spend its money in 2023-24.

General rates will account for $240.9m, while the annual service charge will contribute $57.8m.

In its budget, council said some sectors of the community would have average rates increasing below the rates cap while others would have increases above that figure.

Meanwhile, councillor Ron Nelson will put forward a notice of motion on Tuesday, calling on mayor Trent Sullivan and council’s chief executive to write to local members of parliament – Darren Cheeseman, Ella George, Christine Couzens and Alison Marchant – seeking support for increased state government library funding.

In his motion, Cr Nelson noted council’s contribution to Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GRLC) was $13.6m – a 2 per cent increase – while the state government’s was $2.4m.

“Whilst the GRLC state they run an efficient service within a constrained fiscal environment, there is no doubt that resourcing and staffing libraries to meet community expectations is a compounding challenge, especially considering the state government has announced that moving forward there will be zero increases in funding which means growth areas such as Armstrong Creek will miss out on vital funding,” the motion said.

Cr Nelson in his motion asked council to seek:

INDEXING of recurrent annual public library funding in line with the Consumer Price Index for all councils, plus an additional allocation made for population growth;

COMMITMENT of $20m over four years to extend the Living Libraries capital program;

SUPPORT investment in collaborative approaches to library operations, such as the Library Management System;

A FORMAL partnership agreement between state government and councils to facilitate a joint strategic planning for public libraries; and

request that they advocate on behalf of their communities to the Local Government Minister, Treasurer and Premier for funding to be allocated in the 2024-25 budget and beyond.

Both the rates and budget, and Cr Nelson’s motion, will be put to council at its June 27 meeting, held from 6pm.

Originally published as Geelong council rates rise explained, why councillor wants state funding for libraries