MIDCOAST Council is now inviting community feedback on its Draft Delivery Program and Draft Operational Plan.
Mayor Claire Pontin said the draft budget and program had been developed to balance community needs with long-term financial sustainability.
“Council is increasingly being relied upon to deliver services and infrastructure that were traditionally the responsibility of other levels of government, while funding sources such as the Federal Assistance Grants have declined over time,” Mayor Pontin said.
“We have been working hard to find savings and cut costs, but we simply cannot fund every project our community would like to see, so we need to make difficult decisions and trade-offs to ensure we remain financially sustainable.”
The draft 2026–27 budget includes total expenditure of $439 million, boosted substantially as a result of disaster recovery funding.
Improving the region’s extensive road network remains a key priority with over $58 million allocated to road renewals and maintenance.
An additional amount of over $90 million is for natural disaster recovery works arising from the May 2025 floods, bringing the total amount allocated to roads in 2026-27 to almost $149 million.
“We know our community expects better road conditions, and we acknowledge that many of our roads currently do not meet those expectations,” the Mayor said.
“For many decades, our road network has been underfunded, and we are not currently investing at the level required to keep pace with deterioration.
“While we cannot close the funding gap, we are directing as much funding as possible into roads by finding savings across other services.”
Key road initiatives include resealing, rehabilitation, heavy patching, drainage maintenance, and safety improvements such as updated line marking, signage, and guideposts.
Rates increase
Council will increase rates by 3.1 percent in line with the rate peg increase as set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.
Individual household rates are based on individual land values as set by the Valuer General.
The share of the 3.1 percent increase will vary from area to area.
Similar increases have been applied to fees and charges, which are services that are not funded from rates income.
“We are all experiencing price hikes across a variety of goods and services,” said Mayor Pontin.
“Council’s operating costs have also risen significantly. That’s why it’s important that we act responsibly and apply the IPART rate peg increase.”
The Draft Delivery Program for 2025-2029 (revised 2026-27) and Draft Operational Plan for 2026–27 will be on public exhibition from 1 May to 4 June.
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