Annual Budget

The 2023/2024 Moira Shire Budget was adopted by Council on 28 June 2023. 

The Annual Budget report details the financial position, capital works program and fees and charges schedule.

The Annual Budget has been prepared in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020 and the Local Government (Planning and Reporting) Regulations 2020.

Like many Councils across Victoria, Moira Shire is facing significant challenges when creating our budget for 2023/24.

The 2022 flood event was a disaster for our community, and the financial impacts are significant as we now reallocate resources to response and recovery initiatives.

It was not just the damage, but the prolonged wet weather compounded with post-pandemic impacts that created a shortage of project managers and contractors. The combination of these factors made it impossible to deliver budgeted capital works in 2022/23, meaning the consolidation of carried forward works is going to take even longer. 

Furthermore, inflation and cost of living continue to place pressure on all aspects of Council operations, meaning financial sustainability of Council is a critical assessment criterion in setting the budget. 

All these challenges mean that it is critical the 2023/24 budget concentrates on recovery, sustainability and careful prioritisation of key activities. The budget has to secure and strengthen our future so we can efficiently and effectively meet the needs of our community, not just for 2023/24, but for many years to come. 

Read our 2023/2024 Budget here(PDF, 10MB)

Council’s services are predominately funded through the collection of rates, which are capped in terms of how much they can be increased each year.

The 2023/24 rate cap increase of 3.5%, as set by the Victorian Government, will help fund Council’s operations during a time when the cost of goods and services (CPI) is increasing by approximately 7% as of March 2023.

Despite an increase in Capital Improved Valuations across the municipality, this does not lead to additional rates revenue for Council.

This is demonstrated by a 11.2% reduction in the rate in the dollar to be levied as general rates across the rating differentials in 2023/24. 

Individual rate outcomes will vary and are subject to movements in property values. Ratepayers will be notified of their individual outcome when the 2023/24 Rates Notices are released. 

The recovery effort we face as a Shire is not going to be done quickly. We will likely require not just one year, but perhaps two to four financial years to get through the backlog and deliver capital works, so we need to focus needs on renewing existing assets not creating new ones. 

This means the capital works program of $42.2 million will focus on investing in our existing assets with 60% per cent of the capital works program to be spent on upgrade and renewal projects, including: 

• Numurkah Flood Mitigation Scheme
• Yarrawonga Depot Renewal - Stage 1
• Flood Road Recovery Works
• Bourke’s Bridge Renewal
• Footpath Renewal Program
• Nathalia Drainage Upgrades & Design Works
• Bundalong Drainage Upgrade & Flow Path Feasibility

We will also continue to progress major capital projects, such as the Yarrawonga Library and Multisport Stadium.

You can follow the progress of many of our capital works projects at our Works and Projects section of our website.

Works and Projects

The below graphs show how Moira compared to other Councils in 2021/22.

This comparison aims to show that Rural and Regional Councils face different operational challenges and infrastructure needs than those of Metro and Interface Councils. It highlights how differences in population density and geographic area can influence a Council’s ability to generate sufficient revenue to meet those operational challenges and infrastructure needs and how that can lead to differences in rate notices between Councils.

*Interface Councils is a coalition of ten municipalities that form an urban ring around Metro Melbourne.

2022/23 Budget(PDF, 7MB)
2021/22 Budget
2020/21 Budget(PDF, 2MB)
2019/20 Budget(PDF, 3MB)
2018/19 Budget(PDF, 2MB)
2017/18 Budget
2016/17 Budget