2023/24 Annual Council Budget adopted

Cardinia Shire Council has adopted its 2023–24 Budget, following a second round of community input into the draft document in May this year.

We received a total of 286 submissions from the community during the budget development process from December 2022 to May 2023 which were considered along with a range of other factors outlined during the consultation process.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback.

The adopted 23/24 budget can be found here: 23-24 Annual Budget

Close the Loop Round 2

Thanks to everyone who took the time to provide feedback on the 23/24 draft Council budget.

The consultation details can be found in the full report on the right-hand side of the screen in the document library.

Council is considering your feedback as it finalises the budget. Once the budget is finalised, it will be made available on this page after the 26 June.

Close the Loop on Round 1

Thanks to all who participated in the first round of engagement.

We asked you to tell us 3 service areas where you would like us to allocate more money in the budget, and 3 areas where you would like us to allocate less. You told us…….

You would like MORE money allocated in the budget towards:


You would like LESS money allocated in the budget towards:


The full report from the round 1 engagement can be seen in the document library on the right-hand side of the screen.

Round 2: Have your say on the draft 23/24 council budget

Our Councillors thank you for your contribution to the first round of engagement which has been taken into account in preparing the draft 23/24 Council budget along with a range of other considerations which impact on budget decisions such as:

  • Feedback from earlier community engagement
  • Annual CPI movement and enterprise agreement requirements
  • Capital budget changes
  • New or updated service contracts
  • Council fees and charges review
  • Grant income funding confirmations
  • New legislative requirements and government policy changes
  • Changes in population
  • Rate cap announcement
  • Statutory fees and fines increases
  • Utility (gas, electricity, water) price movements
  • Macro-economic conditions e,g, economic growth, financial markets, inflation, interest rates, supply chain disruption, natural disasters, international conflicts etc

The draft 23/24 Council budget in the document library on the right hand side of the screen. The draft budget proposes:

  • Continued high investment in roads, in particularly our road sealing programs including drains and footpaths where appropriate
  • Continued strong capital investment in sporting facilities despite the affordability of these projects being a challenge
  • Lower spending in the multicultural and community support service areas
  • Increased spending in arts and culture as a result of non-controllable and non-discretionary labour and material costs impacted by inflation
  • Reduced operating expenditure on environment by spreading planned work out over a longer time period.


    • Please complete the survey below and provide us with your feedback on the draft 23/24 budget. The survey is open until 21 May 2023.

    We will consider your feedback as we finalise the budget to be adopted in June.

    If you provide feedback, please click on the yellow ‘Follow’ button at the top of this page to stay up to date with the budget development.

    We are collecting your feedback to inform the Annual Budget 2023/24 project . To see our complete Privacy Policy please see cardinia.vic.gov.au/site/scripts/terms.php#

    PRIVACY STATEMENT

    Personal information collected by Council is used for municipal purposes as specified in the Local Government Act 2020. The personal information will be held securely and used solely by Council for these purposes and/or directly related purposes. Council may disclose this information to other organisations if required or permitted by legislation. The applicant understands that the personal information provided is for the above purpose and that he or she may apply to Council for access to and/or amendment of the information. Requests for access and/or correction should be made to Council’s Privacy Officer on 1300 787 624 or mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au

    We are preparing the 23/24 Council budget

    The annual budget funds a range of services to meet the diverse needs of our community and to deliver the community priorities outlined in our Council Plan.

    We are now seeking community feedback as we prepare the draft 2023-24 annual budget to continue to deliver on the Council Plan.

    Please complete the survey to provide us with your feedback to help shape the 23/24 budget.

    Things to know about the budget process

    Annual budget considerations

    • Activity

      From our new plans and strategies

      Results of previous community engagement activities.

    • Business On Costs

      Annual CPI (Consumer Price Index) movement.

      Enterprise Bargaining Agreement implications.

    • Budget changes

      Capital budget changes

    • Contracts

      New or updated service contracts

    • Fees & Charges

      Council subscriptions

      Fees & Charges

    • Grants

      Grant income

    • Legislation

      New legislative requirements.


    • Population

      Population changes and impacts.

    • Rate Cappping

      The Essential Services Commission sets the rate cap every year to limit the maximum amount by which a council can increase rates and municipal charges.

    • Statutory Rate Increases

      Superannuation Guarantee, WorkCover, EPA landfill waste levy

    • Utilities

      Gas, Electricity , Water

    • Maco-economic conditions

      International and domestic economic growth, financial markets, business investment levels, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruption, labour market forces, construction resource supply and demand, government policies and economic implications of natural disasters, COVID and conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    Budget highlights

    About the budget

    The current budget reflects Council’s responsible financial management, which has enabled more than $318m of capital works over four years to be included in the budget and all vital community services to be maintained or enhanced.

    The current budget allocation for capital works in the financial year 2023–24 is approximately $90m, subject to recalibrating of the program and carryovers, with $57m budgeted for roads and intersection upgrade programs, including the $9m ‘Princes Highway Intersection upgrades’ and $26m ‘Sealing the Hills’ programs funded in partnership with the Australian Government.

    General rates in 2022-23 increased by 1.75 per cent, in line with the Victorian Government’s rate cap. This figure is 5.65% lower than the September 2022 Melbourne Consumer Price Index (CPI), which puts considerable pressure on Victorian councils to deliver services with significantly reduced and constrained rates revenue.

    For more information, visit www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/budget

    Other significant capital works 2023–24 allocations include:

    Other potential key project related 2023-24 allocations:

    Figures will be updated in line with anticipated carryovers and cost updates as known at budget point of time:

    Budget impacts

    Council’s draft budget must respond to a range of challenges, for example:

    Cardinia Shire’s lower rate environment requires a review of its services and capital works program and to source alternative funding. The existing rate cap does not allow Council to meet service contract cost increases, enterprise agreement commitments and material and labour supply disruptions and cost increases.

    Refinement of service demand and service levels in respect of community assets and infrastructure impact asset maintenance and renewal expenditure.

    Significant shortages in the supply of materials and labour caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. This is resulting in contract costs escalating particularly for capital and increasing project risk exposure, forcing council to reassess project scopes, delivery timeframes and funding sources.

    We are developing different ways of working and making council facilities more akin to provide hybrid work environment and more services to move electronically for the convenience of our community.

    These are occurrences of unknown timing and significantly impact Council's resources. Events such as severe storm damage, floods and bushfires require the mobilisation and re-direction of resources within Council to respond to these events in supporting our community and liaising with state government and key emergency service providers.

    This occurs where Local Government provides a service to the community on behalf of the State or Federal Government. Over time the funds received by Local Governments do not increase in line with real cost increases. Council also still plays a role in maintaining Crown land reserves and has some exposure to infrastructure owned by other State authorities.

    Councils across Australia raise approximately 3% of the total taxation collected by all levels of Government in Australia. In addition, Councils are entrusted with the maintenance of more than 30% of all Australian public assets including roads, bridges, parks, footpaths and public buildings. This means that a large proportion of Council's income must be allocated to the maintenance and replacement of these valuable public assets in order to ensure the quality of public infrastructure is maintained at satisfactory levels.

    will continue to place significant stress on Council's resources. The Cardinia Shire population forecast for 2026 is 154,741 (23%).

    The value of developer contributed assets and completed capital works, together with an increase in the value of existing assets, are significantly increasing depreciation and maintenance expenditure.