There has been much debate about increases in rates over the past decade or so with with comparisons made to CPI. People need to be mindful that comparisons with the CPI are probably not terribly helpful since the CPI measures the cost to households of a basket of goods.  Councils don’t buy domestic baskets of goods, they buy things like heavy equipment, bitumen, staff wages and kerbing.

Also missing from this debate is the level of cost shifting from state government to local government. Accommodating extra costs like the Natural Resources Management levy (around $1.3 million from Burnside) and the problem of storm water across the Adelaide Plains which will see Burnside putting up around $12 million over the life of the project.

None the less, Burnside will again be setting rates at the lower end when compared to other metropolitan councils. This is in spite of the cost of February’s storm event which left an unforseen $1 million bill.

At the public meeting on the budget there were a few comments about the level of borrowing for the Glenunga Hub re-development and the swimming pool upgrade. These big ticket items are funded through borrowings as part of our long-term financial plan which spans a ten year timeframe. Having both long-term and short-term financial strategy means we are able to deliver major projects (new bins), provide emergency funding (storm damage), continue providing expected levels of council services and still deliver a budget that has a modest surplus.