Special Meeting - 2023/2024 Budget Adoption Transcript

1 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶

▶ 00:00:08

Nothing was transcribed under this heading — a stretch of the recording with no speech the model could make out.

2.1 2023/24 NOOSA COUNCIL BUDGET PROCESS CONSULTATION FEEDBACK ¶

▶ 00:00:37· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:01:00 The stage two process which is before you today is regarding the draft budget engagement. This elicited only 40 responses this financial year which is lower than previous years at about 170 or 166 and 147 responses respectively. We followed similar channels for engagement this year as per previous years including face-to-face sessions, emails and an online survey. Recognise this is a low statistical validity of the survey but I think it's important to remember that the draft budget has followed the corporate plan engagement and as you'll see through the operational plan as the last agenda item this morning, a lot of those outcomes in the corporate plan are feeding through this financial year. Now the report provided for you here this morning includes a summary of the feedback topics and a summary of actions in relation to that. One of the key outcomes noted in that report is that a lot of the responses reflected projects and

00:02:00 expenditure already included and provided for in the draft budget. This included additional investment in core infrastructure maintenance renewals for additional funding for civil operations for maintenance as well as additional staff for parks and landscape. Significant number of waste management initiatives, environment initiatives to increase conservation and wildlife preservation primarily through increased initiatives through the environment levy, the adoption of the interactions policy, transport strategy initiatives, increased funding for accessibility through new changing places amenities and accessibility park furniture along Kinpin Terrace foreshore and additional investment to improve lieutenant gardens through staff, resorts and master plan. These feedback results will also be included in the workshop with the councillors and no further changes were proposed to the draft budget as a result the draft budget presented in front of you reflects the final budget as adopted today.

00:03:00 Mayor Stewart: Thank you Trent. Do we have any questions for Trent? Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So Trent, while there wasn't many submissions back into the draft plan there was a little bit of a theme there for people who would like to see us reallocate some dollars for the gambling alliance fund. I think in your report you state that we could do this without any further change to the budget that we have we whether it be rejoining fee or for example an operational fund if we decided that rejoining fee was too high that we may be able to invest in a they can donate to their campaigns they're running at any time is that correct? Through the chair yes my recommendation on Speaker 2: that is correct there the investment is not significant relative to our 132 million dollar budget we're talking potentially after 15 grand if that's the full contribution to rejoin so should

00:04:00 the council decide to rejoin the alliance it can be an operational decision for council to progress and my recommendation is from a finance perspective is we can emergently deal with that through the Mayor Stewart: budget in the financial year. Thank you, thank you Trent. Councillor Amelia. Councillor Lorentson: Trent again in reference to the 40 responses that this budget engagement process has generated I note it's a lower response than previous years you mentioned 166 responses 2021-2022 147 responses in 2020-2021. Given that we've got already a reliable sort of source of community's views and expectations given all these surveys that we can do and we've got a reliable source of feedback throughout the year is this the potential end of this type of consultation? Speaker 2: Through the chair each year as we start the budget process in November December we look at how we

00:05:00 undertake the process so we will obviously sit down with the council and look at the process next year at this point in time I'm not looking to change or revoke that engagement process I think the important part is to make sure that through our community engagement we focus on those key strategic engagement processes and we have done that very well through the corporate plan the livability survey the waste strategy which is underway at the moment they're the key pieces to obviously ensure that we get appropriate community feedback but at this point through the budget I think that feedback is important you'll find that as you look back over previous years with the engagement often it's a key topic or a key operational issue that that gets a focus through the feedback I think what you'll find this year or one way one interview rotation that's unsure what's driven the changes in terms of feedback is there haven't been as many topical operational issues or topical changes to our rating structure apart from the pressures evaluation this year thank you thank you councillor joe um not sure if this one for you trainer wants

00:06:00 Councillor Jurisevic: the ceo particularly as it was uh in his area of infrastructure uh related to service levels concerns that efficiency service levels and quality is reduced uh and examples uh include road maintenance parks uh park maintenance and uh and the like um we've had a service level catalogue included in our budget documentation for some time I'm unaware of any reduction in service levels to those areas in particular um are you aware of any changes Mr CEO that uh that have been undertaken there is this an opportunity for us to take those concerns on board see if there is any need for any uh changes in uh in service levels in the areas that are raised through you Speaker 1: stand up in and out of the camera um no through the through you chair no there's uh there's been no change we are reviewing them as part of our efficiencies and getting feeling better at doing it actually some of the realignment that we're doing with our operations and group is to actually

00:07:00 deliver those services in a in a better way but there's no there's no intention to reduce any Councillor Jurisevic: service levels so the element the opportunity for efficiency is going forward with some of these changes is there absolutely thank you madam chair yes thank you I'm happy to move the Mayor Stewart: motion thank you I'll second it thank you councillor Wilkie would you like to speak to it yeah Councillor Wilkie: thank you thank you madam mayor look I commend staff for conducting the budget consultation process I'll just express a personal opinion that I believe that the budget consultation process although it's not mandatory over the last three years it's proved very useful in helping us to see whether or not we've got the balance and the mix right uh read in concert with um other surveys such as the feedback we received for the corporate plan and the livability survey it did show that we're on track it's very useful feedback even though the numbers have diminished of respondents have diminished over the last three years I think it's still a good show of good

00:08:00 faith and good governance that we do offer the consultation process for feedback and it does it will also provide the opportunity for us to see whether we there's anything we have missed and it um I I don't think I'll be alone suggesting that we should continue with the process even though it's not a mandatory one Mayor Stewart: thank you councillor would anyone else like to speak to this uh we'll put the recommendation oh would you like to close council no thank you put it to a vote all in favor that is unanimous thank you thank you trent item 2.2 on our agendas is adoption of 2023 2024 budget policies and again we have trent to give us a summary thank you trent through the chair councils Speaker 2: the local government act 2009 requires us to adopt a number of policies related to the annual budget to ensure the effective and efficient financial governance of council these management policies

2.2 ADOPTION OF 2023-2024 BUDGET POLICIES ¶

▶ 00:08:51· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:09:00 are the debt policy and investment of surplus cash policies however the agenda also includes primarily for the first time a number of other finance related policies um which are obviously critical and mandatory to the operation of the organization but not mandatory to the budget process um however it's proposed to review and readopt these annually through the budget process as part of proactive measures uh discretionary measures to seek to achieve better practice in the chairing council's suite of financial related policies and financial governance is kept always current this approach follows sound advice from our council received through our expert independent leaders of council's audit and this team and also noting independent Queensland audit office who ordered our financial statements annually also identified that there has been a number of years since these policies have been reviewed and this was an opportune process to ensure that our policies remain current um so the mandatory non-mandatory budget policies

00:10:00 included here for finance are the financial sustainability policy the non-current asset policy the general rate donations policy management of cash policy and the entertainment hospitality policy the purposes of each of these policies is outlined in the report and each of those detailed policies contain dependencies only minor changes were proposed to these policies and it's primarily around wording and clarification of their intent it does not change their application for the debt policy it's outlining our borrowings for the next financial year for the investment policy there are no changes to our investment or counterparty limits however this is something we will review during the year as we look at our investment practices and organization particularly given our interest rates and our cash holdings general rate donations again it's only minor clarification of wording and no changes to the intent for outcome eligibility our entertainment

00:11:00 policy is probably undertaking and hospitality policy has probably undertaken the most change and the intent here was to provide much clearer articulation and boundaries of what is allowable hospitality and entertainment spend by officers and in particular this policy was reviewed by our business community members as well to ensure that we achieve best practice outcome for policy and our non-current asset policy finally uh was reviewed given the number of years since change and was updated to reflect current clarification on our disclosure treatment of non-current assets through the financial statements This will not change our financial statements, position or disclosures financially. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Trent. Any questions for Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Thank you Trent. Through the Chair and a question to the CEO, given the importance of policies and continuous improvement, can you please advise how often we review the policies to make sure that we are on track?

00:12:00 Speaker 1: Through the Chair, it's a regular process, so if it's required on a 12-monthly basis or as changes occur, because sometimes regulations come through, they ensure that we, or cause us to then make sure that we look at our policies and make sure they're still relevant to the new regulations. So it's a regular exercise. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Thank you Councillor Finzel. Any other questions for Trent? Councillor Jo. Councillor Jurisevic: Just one for clarification. The term non-current asset, just so for the people that may be watching online, can you just define the difference between a current and a non-current asset? Good question. Speaker 2: Through the Chair, current assets are, in our balance sheet, items that we could consume, if you like, within a year. So it can be cash, it can be debts that are owed to us, debtors. So those smaller items of equity,

00:13:00 that can be easily consumed. Non-current assets primarily relate to your infrastructure. It's your roads, your bridges, your buildings. It's the, if you like, the assets you see. So this is a very important one because the value of our assets, of our roads and bridges etc, is nearly $1.3 billion over the coming year. So it's the primary part of our equity. And making sure that we value that and present that properly through our financial statements is critical, Councillor. Mayor Stewart: Thanks Trent. Councillor Wilkie: I happen to move it. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, okay, I'll second it. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you Madam Mayor. Look, these policies are integral to ensuring Noosa Council remains a financially viable and financially responsible council, as it always has been. One that's able to maintain its $1.3 billion worth of community assets.

00:14:00 We have very low levels of debt. And always return a small surplus at the end of the financial year. That's it in a nutshell. They're very important. And they're integral to keeping Noosa Council financially viable. And be able to provide the services for its community. Mayor Stewart: Thanks Councillor Wilkie. Anyone else like to speak to this? Not to close? Councillor Wilkie: No, thank you. Mayor Stewart: We'll put it to a vote. All in favour? That is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you Trent. Next item on the agenda is 2.3, Statement of Estimated Financial Position for the 2022-2023 Financial Year. And we have our Acting Financial Services Manager, Pauline Coles, here to give us a summary. Thank you Pauline. Speaker 4: Morning Councillors. In accordance with Section 205 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council is required to present a Statement of Estimated Financial Position as part of its annual budget approach. The Statement of Estimated Financial Position provides an estimate of Council's position for the 2022-2023 financial year.

2.3 STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED FINANCIAL POSITION FOR THE 2022-23 FINANCIAL YEAR ¶

▶ 00:14:46· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:15:00 And this position is presented in the report and is consistent with the adopted position at Budget Review 2, which was adopted by Council in April. It's currently showing a small surplus of $162,000. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Pauline. Any questions for Pauline? Would anyone like to move this recommendation? Councillor Jo? Alright. Seconder? Councillor Tom? Alright. We're all three. I was looking at Tom. He got it. Councillor Jo, would you like to speak to this? Councillor Jurisevic: I need to acknowledge that the financial position that's estimated for the end of this financial year is slightly ahead of the net operating result anticipated. We're on track and maintaining a sound financial position. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Councillor. Would anyone else like to speak to this? No? Would you like to close Councillor Jo? Councillor Jurisevic: No. Mayor Stewart: Alright. We'll put the recommendation to a vote. All in favour? That is unanimous.

00:16:00 Thank you. Thank you Elinda. Thank you Pauline. Next item on the agenda is item 2.4, application of national competition policy reform and Pauline. Thank you. Speaker 4: Each year financial council is required to decide whether to apply national competition policy reforms to identified business activities. National competition policy reform provides greater transparency over council business and assists with removing any anti-competitive conduct and ensures the best allocation of council's limited resources. Council has adopted NCP reforms with respect to its waste and holiday park businesses since the amalgamation. The 2023 year council undertook a review of its other businesses to determine whether or not NCP should apply to those. We considered the community facilities including aquatics and energy. We also considered leisure centres, leisure centres, events, arts and respite centres and cemeteries. And whilst these operations generate fees and operate on a partial user pay system, they do not necessarily have a full cost recovery or profit making focus and as such

2.4 APPLICATION OF NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY REFORM ¶

▶ 00:16:15· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

00:17:00 we're not seeking to apply NCP principles to those. The digital hub provides an economic focus and while it also does earn income from rental and a partial user pay system, it is very heavily reliant on grants and its primary focus is economic development. So we're not suggesting to apply NCP policies to that as well. Accordingly, we're recommending to council to continue to adopt full cost pricing principles to its management business activities and to apply the code of competitive conduct to the holiday parks which is consistent with the previous year. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Pauline. Councillor Joe. Councillor Jurisevic: Pauline, you mentioned the rental income for the digital hub. We also have the Sunrise Beach shops which derives an income for council. Is there any reference to that? The Sunrise Beach shops wouldn't be considered for any sort of commercial operation? Speaker 4: So the Sunrise Shop. Councillor Jurisevic: If it's a commercial operation? Speaker 4: Yeah. So Sunrise Shop is purely a lease arrangement. While the digital hub is similar in nature, it has a membership base as well as office

00:18:00 rent and venue rental. So it's slightly different in perspective. It does also have some lease sites that sit within that precinct as well. Speaker 2: Trent. Through the Chair, just to add, the thresholds set on the national competition policy are also based on expenditure. So whilst it has a revenue generating focus, the thresholds under the regulation act are about how much expenditure occur. The Sunrise Beach is on its own in terms of its maintenance and operating and lease costs. It doesn't pick over the threshold. That said, as council works down a path of revenue diversification, potential future activation of some of its vacant land parcels around the Shire or some of its residential purposes. That activity as a whole might in future years trigger the threshold and might be a conversation we bring back in future years to adopt our commercial land holdings as an activity . Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you, Trent. Thank you for bringing up the next part of my question.

00:19:00 Mayor Stewart: Any further questions? Would anyone like to move? Happy to move it. Okay. Seconder? All right. Councillor Lorentson. Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Look, this policy's mandatory, very important. Basically, it's to ensure that local governments don't use their resources through their commercial operations to unfairly disadvantage other businesses that are operating in the same sphere. In the case of Noosa Council, that's in waste management and also holiday parks. Thank you, Councillor. Mayor Stewart: Would anyone else like to speak to this? Nope. We'll just close. All right. We'll put it to a vote. All in favour? That is unanimous. Thank you very much. We are now up to 2.5, which is our 2023-2024 budget adoption. But I would like to move, before we actually vote on this or talk to this, that we suspend standing orders for Council to be able to speak to this and to have speeches and to

00:20:00 also hear from Trent. So I move that we suspend the standing orders. Councillor Wilkie: I'll second that, Madam Mayor. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. Standing orders are now suspended. And, Trent, would you like to give an outline overview of the budget? Thank you. Speaker 2: Through the Chair. Under the Local Government Act, Council is required to adopt a budget at least annually. This agenda item, as part of the Budget Adoption Special Meeting, is the primary budget paper to discuss this morning. It provides our budget document, financial statements, rating and charges adoption, and is the legislative approval to levy rates, charges and collection for the financial year. Consequently, as you will note as we work through this agenda, there are no less than 15 separate motions that you will need to adopt this morning. Given the extensive conversation in regards to the matters, initiatives, projects, capital works that we will talk through as each of you speak to the motion, I'll keep my summary

2.5 2023-2024 BUDGET ADOPTION ¶

▶ 00:20:34

00:21:00 quite high level and executive matter, and we'll focus on that later. Now, in terms of financial sustainability, the 2023-24 operating position is again in line with previous years and marginal surplus. The aim is to, obviously, ensure that we find the right balance between financial sustainability and investment in community initiatives and projects. All key financial sustainability ratios are met, which includes our operating surplus ratio, our asset value ratio, and our net operating surplus ratio. Thank you, Pauline. I've been looking at numbers far too long, haven't I? I also believe the budget adheres very well with the principles outlined in our financial sustainability policy again this year. In terms of operating revenue, you will see the budget has $132 million on operating revenue.

00:22:00 Some key highlights in terms of movements year-on-year here, interest revenue is currently better than it used to be. We are benefiting from our high interest rates that are being offered in terms of investment cash, and those cash accounts have been held at the bank, as well as our cash reserves being higher than interest paid. This is primarily due to funds that we have received in advance and are held restricted in terms of disaster insurance, first debit credit in the bank, unspent capital works where we are still progressing through our adopted capital works program for the 2023-24 financial year, as well as those levies that have an unspent balance that we hold in our reserve for that purpose for future years. Our fees and charges have also been reviewed to ensure that the principles of full-cost pricing remain in place, and that the general rate payer is not unduly burdened by the cost of delivering those fee-generating activity permits and other services. Our rates. The goal of the rates is to ensure that the majority of the rate rise is kept below CPI,

00:23:00 and as you will see in the budget documents, for the majority of residential rate payers, that are on the minimum charge, the net rate increase is 5.5%, which is, again, still below our March quarter CPI, and indicative of the recent notification from our VAs to our interim CPI, which I believe was 5.5%. Dermal weight. This has been also achieved through a freeze on all our four key levies, which is the environment levy, our heritage levy. Our sustainable transport levy. And our bushfire resilience and recovery levy. That has ensured that we can keep those net rate charges sustainable year-on-year. Now, in terms of operating expenditure, again, it's $132 million of operating expenditure, which aligns closely with the revenue. The key driver of the cost increase for the next financial year has been our CPI, paid

00:24:00 employee bargaining rent, staff costs, which did not anticipate a lot of services, and construction materials over the last 18 months did not anticipate unprecedented CPI levels in Australia. Our construction cost pressures have also impacted depreciation, in terms of the value of our assets, which we talked about earlier, as well as the materials component of our civil works, parks and gardens maintenance costs. Our capital works, $39.4 million capital program. This does not include disaster. But it's important to note that this is not a disaster. We've got to note that $28 million of that spend is renewals, in terms of keeping and maintaining the service level and condition of our assets, which is significant. In fact, the renewals itself is larger than many of our previous year's capital works program. This $39.4 million has been funded through $9 million in grants, $3 million of use of restricted reserves and levies, $3 million in loans, $20 million funded through our appreciation

00:25:00 funds. Leaving $5 million triple over on our operating surpluses for this year. Timing and cash flow through the final three years and our unrestricted cash reserves. Thank you, Council. Do you have any questions? Mayor Stewart: Any questions for Trent? Okay, I'll speak to it. It's going to take a little longer than five minutes, but it was definitely under 10. Good morning, my fellow councillors, CEO and staff. It is with pleasure that I recommend this Council's fourth budget as Mayor of Noosa Shire. The budget we vote on today is a collaborative one, arising from the hard work and wisdom of many. It's a budget that has undergone robust debate, scrutiny, feedback from our community, and is quite simply a reflection of our collective values. I'd like to acknowledge all my fellow councillors who have worked tirelessly over the past few months. I would also like to acknowledge our Director of Corporate Services, Trent Graff, and Pauline

00:26:00 Coles, and our Acting Financial Services Manager, who have walked this journey every step of the way with us. Thank you for your ongoing support, advice, and expertise. The Noosa Shire Council budget 2023-2024, just like our previous three budgets, has not been without its challenges. In fact, it's been our toughest yet, and perhaps the toughest since de-amalgamation. This year we continue to deliver an $80 million flood recovery program, deal with inflationary pressures and massive land valuation increases for the second consecutive year. In fact, re-evaluation of land by the State Government for a second year in a row has seen average land values increase by over 62% across our Shire. This year we have, like last, weathered much. But like our Shire, like our community, this budget is one of resilience and recovery. And above all, it's about investment. Investment into our community, our environment, our economy, our businesses, and our capital works. This budget has a renewed focus on significant foundations, renewing and maintaining infrastructure,

00:27:00 helping pensioners, maintaining our liveability to ensure a bright future for our Shire, a focus on back to basics, grassroots spending where our community needs it most. Prior to today, just as we have for the past two years, we took our draft budget to our community. Armed with the feedback from significant community consultation through our recently adopted corporate plan, which informed budget priorities during its development, as well as budget feedback, it was clear that our community wanted many things, all of which were already addressed in the draft budget through initiatives and actions. And if they weren't, as we've heard about the alliance, we can take them as operational down the track. Budget figures. Today's record. $171.7 million budget. $171.7 million budget. Incorporates an operating expenditure budget of $132.3 million and a capital works budget of $39.4 million, which includes loan repayments of $1.2 million.

00:28:00 The significant capital program is on top of the $80 million suite of flood recovery works funded by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. Importantly, it complies with our financial sustainability policy. While there are significant investments, there is a necessary rate increase. Like our fellow councils across Queensland, we are not immune to the rising costs and rising challenges of our current environment. Like all households and businesses, our council has had to bear current inflationary conditions, construction costs which have risen by as much as 30 per cent for construction and rising utility charges. In saying that, the average residential rate payer faces a 5.5 per cent increase on their total rates notice, equivalent to an extra $1.75 per cent on their total rates notice, and an additional $2.2 per week. In fact, 4,000 property owners will have a drop in their total rates bill because of the mechanisms implemented to combat the unprecedented land valuations. 75 per cent of rate payers will have an average rate rise which is lower than CPI.

00:29:00 Although we did our absolute best and most to reduce the impact of state land valuations, a number of outlying properties were unable to be captured and will incur a significant rate rise. We have all worked hard to keep rates as low as possible as we understand the impact that rising living costs have had on our community and that is why we are resolute in our commitment to consolidating the pensioner rebates and giving nearly 5,000 of our pensioners a helping hand. All eligible pensioners now receive the full rebate of $230 per year, whether they are a single or a couple pensioner. Our role, our vision is to help where we can and we continue to help our elderly, something we are all proud of. Continuing with our commitment to keep rates as low as possible, we have put a freeze on all levies to help minimise the financial impact on rate payers. Capital We continue to deliver record amounts of capital projects. This year's budget includes an ambitious $39.4 million investment in capital works on top

00:30:00 of the $80 million. Roads and transports are the big focus with $10.3 million worth of projects followed closely by environment, waste and resource recovery programs. Which will see an $8.15 million spend. Delivering almost $120 million of infrastructure projects in just 12 months is no easy feat. We are fortunate that our incredibly skilled infrastructure team that last year delivered a record capital program despite difficult and challenging economic conditions are at the helm once again. $6.04 million will be spent on bridges. A further $1.57 million will be spent on pathways and boardwalks and public amenities will receive upgrades amounting to $1.49 million. Other key capital work projects include $4.3 million for the Shire Road reseal program and $475,000 to continue the Shire Wide Gravel Road re-sheeting program, Ed Webb Park Sunshine Beach upgrade at $609,000, Noosaville Foreshore Stormwater Renewals $525,000, Noosahead Dogs

00:31:00 Sand Erosion Beach Management Plan $500,000, $460,000 investment to build missing links in the Hinterland Pathway Network delivering on our commitment to our work. $80,000 to renew the Shire's barbecues, $100,000 to renew park furniture and $40,000 for park shelter maintenance. Noosaville's Apex Fitness equipment will receive $131,000 in upgrading and modernising, $45,000 will be put aside for restoration of the Noosa Botanic Gardens, $61,000 for beach shower renewals and $250,000 to improve beach access. Return our minds to other big ticket items in this year's budget and our focus is firmly on our war on waste. This budget sees an investment of just over $3.6 million to complete the expansion of the Eumundi Noosa Noosa Road landfill cell, as well as an additional $1.2 million investment to expand the green waste and industrial waste processing and storage areas and develop a new area for the display, sale and loading of processed and recycled materials, including

00:32:00 a feasibility study into resource recovery options such as the polystyrene processing machine. We can, with the right strategy in place, the right initiatives undertaken, turn this essential service into an opportunity to be innovative, forward thinking and proactive. This budget provides for just that, livability and the environment. A newly adopted corporate plan highlights the importance of our environment. Funds to continue and nurture our natural environment are a critical component of this budget. Investment in land conservation and rehabilitation work is up 50 per cent to facilitate more land for wildlife. Funding for environmental grants is increased by 6 per cent. In this budget, Council continues its partnership funding arrangements for a range of conservation projects such as Noosa River planning, flora and fauna monitoring and developing a sea turtles conservation strategy. An ongoing science-based water quality monitoring program, an ongoing vegetation mapping review

00:33:00 to identify critical bushfire hazards and informed conservation are also part of this year's budget. Our community programs are paramount and also feature prominently in this year's budget. Around $15.2 million of our budget is being spent to operate libraries, community facilities and to provide community development services. Of this, we are continuing with funding of our Living Well Noosa program, continuing with our Go Noosa free weekend buses, undertaking master planning for our Noosa Botanic Gardens and progressing our destination plan. We have also provided $465,000 for heritage and restoration projects for the Noosa Botanic Gardens and restoration upgrades to the Cooroy Butter factory. The J will get a new air conditioning system and the heat pump at the Noosa Aquatics Centre is also earmarked. We are also continuing with our feasibility study for a new regional art gallery and a business case. Our business community, largely small businesses, are very much the lifeblood of this Shire and

00:34:00 we have over 7,000 of them. They continue to be supported. This budget reaffirms our commitment to our business community with implementation of a small business friendly council program, education and industry development program, green economy as well as a digital connectivity investigation. This is all in addition to our ongoing industry support and economic grants. Special interests. We all have a few favoured projects or things we are most proud of. For me, my mind turns to the following. Fire management and safety. The Bushfire Resilience and Recovery Levy is in its third year now. It continues to provide valuable programs to mitigate bushfire risk on Council bushland reserves through controlled burns and fire trail maintenance. Capital spending on sports and recreation. Designs for the upgrade of Cooroy Sports Complex will progress to completion over this year and Council will also undertake a much needed future needs assessment of the Noosa Leisure Centre to ensure Council can cater for the growing demands of indoor sport and active recreation in the future.

00:35:00 River support. Investigation into the upgrade. And replacement of the jetty at Noosa Woods is something I'm looking forward to as it progresses to completion over the coming year. Its potential lies in increasing transport solutions via river travel. Salmation. Over the past three years, I've used the mantra, save where we can to spend where we must. It's an ideal I still espouse. This year, like the last three years, have put a focus on delivering tangible outcomes for our community, providing grassroots style projects that will make a difference to the lives of our residents. This budget does this and more. It has a firm back to basics approach. Considering the challenges we have faced, I am incredibly proud to be delivering alongside all Councillors a budget of this calibre, which is another investment in enhancing our lifestyle and providing a bright future. In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Deputy Mayor and my fellow Councillors for their deliberations and sensible approach to formulating this budget. As I said, it is very much a collective process and has been a collective budget.

00:36:00 I believe this budget is a good one and we have all worked very hard together to achieve it. I'd also like to thank the Council management team for their detailed work in preparing this budget. Special thanks go to our Acting CEO, Larry Sengstock, and our hardworking finance team led by Trent Graff and Pauline Coles, and also to our executive team who have worked so incredibly hard on this budget. A great team effort by so many of our wonderful staff. The collective efforts of so many to get us here today has not gone unnoticed. It is appreciated and it is acknowledged. As Councillors, we are all very grateful. In registering appreciation, it should be noted that we continue to remain in surplus. We have a modest operating surplus of $121,000. This is a remarkable result because of what has continued to be at such challenging financial contexts. A quote I've used in the past. So please allow me a little latitude, is one that I think is still current. A budget is more than just a series of numbers on a page.

00:37:00 It is an embodiment of our values. To our community, it is you who we value, and it is with you in mind this budget was crafted. On behalf of all our Council team, I commend it for adoption. Thank you. Oh, here, here. Would anyone else like to speak? Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Once again, you leave very little for the rest of us to say. As you've done every year for the last four years, you've delivered a very comprehensive and detailed summary, and gracious summary of the budget, and very accurate and factual. So thank you, Madam Mayor. It's amazing. I'd like to just make a few comments about the broader context in which we've operated over the last four years. This has been a context in which we've operated in, it's been one of disruption. Ever since the first budget we had to face, which was facing the impacts of COVID, we were either facing the impacts of COVID or recovering from COVID. Then there was the flood disaster. We're facing an unprecedented 31 landslips across the Shire.

00:38:00 And as the Mayor mentioned, $88 million worth of capital works, which you won't see in the budget papers, which is happening alongside our $39 million worth of capital works. Record inflation, we'll have to combat that as well, as well as two consecutive land valuation hikes in two years in a row. But at the heart of it, everyone around this table has borne the cost of living impacts on ratepayers foremostly in mind. And the fact that we've been able to come up with a budget that minimises the rates impacts on our residents. We've still been able to deliver good services for our residents. For our community. And I think it's something we're hoping that the residents will be appreciative of. I'm pretty certain we've got the balance right and that everyone's taken a very equitable

00:39:00 approach to the distribution of resources throughout the Shire. So once again, I would also like to commend each and every councillor and also Trent and Pauline for their great help. The advice from the directors has been invaluable as well. And of course, Larry being oil on the water, very calm and measured approach that keep things on track. Councillor Jurisevic: So I'd just like to thank everyone as well. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Councillor Wilkie. Mayor Stewart: Would anyone else like to talk to this? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: No? Oh. Mayor Stewart: Oh. Oh. Hi. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Amelia. Hi. Councillor Lorentson: Excuse me. Our mantra this year was go back to the past. Go back to basics. Go back to all the Rs. Collect rubbish, fix local roads, keep rates down, reduce waste, and the most important R to reflect community values in every dollar that we spend.

00:40:00 We've been mindful of the expectations of our community and the standard of service that they're seeking from our council. We've been mindful that this has also been a really tough year for our residents given the enormous cost of living pressures. Households are under due to inflation and rising interest rates. Cost pressures that have also been felt by council. Our focus was to deliver minimal rate increase and to put our residents first. And I believe that we've done that. We've budgeted for essential capital works for infrastructure and services that support our community and create an environment to grow our economy both in the hinterland and in coastal precincts. We've done that. We've done our best to minimise our rate increase and spend ratepayers' money on matters that you told us are most important to you. And we've also done our best to provide a budget that prepares us for the immediate and future challenges that lie in front of us. I want to take this opportunity to thank our community for giving us your trust to lead

00:41:00 you. And I want to just reference page 64 of the report. The numbers just jump out at me. Running this Shire is big business. We're throwing numbers around like we have $1.3 billion in assets. That our total expenditure budget is $171.7 million. Our operating expenditure budget, $132.3 million. Our capital works, $39.4 million. Running Council works, $39.4 million. Running Council is huge business. And again, thank you to the residents who trust us to spend their money. But with every big business, it needs great people to run it. And I really need to reinforce what we all know, that our most important asset in any

00:42:00 business is its people. So to the Council staff, thank you for going above and beyond every single day to deliver services to our community. And to our engine room, they're all sitting in this room today, to Trent, to Pauline, our acting CEO, Larry, and to the executive team who are committed to keeping us councillors on track, and also to keeping our future sound. Thank you. And finally, to our wonderful mayor for your leadership, and to our deputy mayor, and to my fellow councillors. We are all so committed to making Noosa better. It's an honour to be able to stand here today. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Arnston. Well done. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Joe. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, you can leave a lot left. But likewise, I'd like to thank Trent, Pauline, and the executive team, the CEO, and particularly

00:43:00 with the changes that have been undergone in upper management in the last 12 months. The managers and all of the staff that have had an input into this. It's been a great pleasure to be able to participate in this budget for the financial year going forward, but also all their work in keeping council afloat and council operating in the years gone past. Particularly this year. We've had a few challenging and trying years with COVID and the like, and hopefully we can see some clean air and get on with the business of operating council. Some of the areas that I think don't often get mentioned is the asset management. I mean, we've got a lot of work going on. We do undertake a lot of log work and inspections and maintenance programs with regard to keeping our assets viable and the things that are in here are the bridge programs, the drainage programs and the infrastructure asset management and condition programs. Without those ongoing things we wouldn't know the condition of our assets, we wouldn't know what maintenance is required, we wouldn't know what upgrades and facilitations are done.

00:44:00 So to the staff that undertake those projects, there's $459,000 in the budget towards those. There are bridge renewal projects, Black Mountain, Warrenville Road renewal and the Tewantin Bridge renewal. We're keeping an eye on that aging asset and some work with regards to Garth Crown Bridge. Some improvements and enhancements to the entrance of Cooroy Cemetery which probably hasn't had a lot of speed on it over the years but it's well and truly reached time. The elements of Dog Beach, Dog Beach will get half a million dollars with sand replenishment this year and a number of other elements in there. But one of the things that we're looking at, I'm pleased to see in this, is the return of a heavy patching crew to Council's delivery of services. We heard one of the comments from the community feedback was potholes. Potholes are a pain to patch and they don't always last. The heavy patching crew will get on top of those and hopefully we'll be able to stop those potholes from becoming problems going forward.

00:45:00 But also, same on some of the reseal programs. We'll be able to patch the pieces that need patching and be able to manage those reseal programs and better spend the money on asphalt around the place. Community facilities, always great to see money being spent on community facilities and there's a lot of community facilities. One of the main upgrades happening is with our library and that's the amenities upgrade in the Riversville Library. A number of pathways. Parks and playgrounds and the Mayor mentioned the Cooroy Sports Complex. We've been doing some great spending on the Tewantin Complex with the new set of change rooms soon to be complete. I'm glad to see we're starting to go into the design and implementation of upgrades for the Cooroy Sporting Complex which are well overdue as well.

00:46:00 So I commend the program here. It's been a robust discussion around the table. I can assure everyone that we nutted out and challenged every dollar spent and tried to get the best bang for buck out of the money available so that the spend was equitable across the Shire. That the main areas of focus that needed focus were delivered upon. We continue to look at the redraw gallery going forward. And I'm delighted to see that there's some spend going forward for the Botanic Gardens as well. One of our most prized assets that probably needs the attention it's going to get. But the last and foremost, and the Mayor did mention it, the amount of money being spent with regard to waste management going forward including polystyrene machines that we've implemented this year. And container deposit scheme return point.

00:47:00 Which is a new one there. And state of the art stuff there being implemented. So I look forward to seeing all those programs being implemented this year. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Joe. Councillor Thom. Councillor Wegener: Yes well Mayor Joe definitely summed up many many many of the great things. I would like to also thank Pauline, Trent and staff for this budget and working with us and bringing us along the journey. But I'm just going to tell a little story of my most proud moment this year as a councillor. And I was driving into Tewantin with my mother-in-law. And she's elderly and we were lamenting the woes of the world, Ukraine, blah blah blah. And as we're driving into Tewantin we see the roundabout. And Grandma says, oh look at that beautiful roundabout. And the hedges were perfect. And the Poinciana was blooming. And it was just gorgeous. And then we drove down to the next roundabout.

00:48:00 And it was gorgeous. And the hedges. And she just said, they make me feel good. What a beautiful, that is incredible. And to me, that's a symptom of things going right. From Larry, to Shaun, to Brian O'Connor, to Matt Hanson, to the crew, to Piper, the newest trainee down there. And I think that there's a lot of aspects of council that are very similar. So I really appreciate the team, the effort that goes in and the team building that's happening. That brings us, that brings that final roundabout beauty to us. And I think that the budget is the keel and rudder to the good ship Noosa. And we're just so happy that you've done such a good job. And thank you staff for this year. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, John. Councillor Finzel: Thank you, everyone. And thank you for your rousing story. I loved it. And I had a quote prepared. It sort of leads into it, especially when we talk around diversity around the table. In diversity, there is beauty and there is strength.

00:49:00 Mayor Stewart: Oh, that's nice. Councillor Finzel: And I think this table here shows that and the organisation. And firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the wisdom inherent in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This is the oldest surviving culture in the world and recognise their custodianship of the land on which we stand, live, work and play. So everything has been captured at the table beautifully. So I'll just give a brief overview. But firstly, I'd like to acknowledge and commend the hard work of my fellow councillors and the great work of Mayor Clare, who stands and is the outward face of this council. And you have strong leadership and love for this council. Thank you. And it's really lovely to see. Thank you. Thank you. And I'd like to thank Acting CEO and all the staff, including Trenton Pauline and the executive, who have diligently committed to the task of working together in delivering a really robust budget. The Noosa Shire Council budget is a call to action with a focus on fairness, with no one left behind.

00:50:00 To build a future where we have access to housing for all, where the environment and open spaces is desirable, vibrant and sustainable. And inclusive. Where education and retention of our young people is kept in the Shire as we work to deliver innovative and successful sectors and small business to provide ongoing and meaningful employment. From the Noosa Shire hinterland trails to the coastline, this council has worked hard to achieve equity throughout our decision making process to focus on our people, our environment and our economy with diligence. And robust debates around the table. Without a doubt. United with empathy, empathy sitting at the heart of this budget in conjunction with strong fiscal responsibility and with fairness. We have listened to what our community has had to say through our online surveys, meaningful engagement and to include our five year corporate plan, which hopefully we're sitting around the table, all of us to deliver in the future.

00:51:00 Thank you. Thank you. In summary, we endeavoured to capture the aspirations of our community to work collaboratively, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. In essence, this budget encapsulates the desire to build a better future with council, with our community that community can be proud of. As we walk the road to recovery, building resilience in our communities, emerge as leader in our commitment to be proactive in delivering clean water. We have also worked with the government to address the climate change targets. Address the housing crisis and work with all levels of government, private enterprise and industry to address homelessness, ensuring there is equitable access to housing for all. To consider young people, working families and our senior citizens. To support our small business community and tourism sector.

00:52:00 Reinvent our economy through diversity with strong emphasis on converting waste to resource. Promote safe, friendly and sustainable living. To build a more inclusive and inclusive neighbourhood. Invest in education and training for lifelong learning. And of course, a major one I love is to engender trust within our community. Through welcome and open conversations with a responsive and transparent outward facing council. With an internal focus on best and continuous practice. Our desire is to improve connectivity through ongoing infrastructure build of trails and pathways throughout the Shire. With an internal focus on best and continuous practice. With an emphasis on achieving equitable outcomes for the hinterland and across the Shire. This council seeks to support healthy and active communities. Strengthening communities with a focus on the arts and culture to build inclusion and resilience. To protect our Shire's heritage and environment.

00:53:00 Raise awareness to support reconciliation and diversity. Deliver key outcomes and services to our community and reinforcing Noosa's identity through planning, projects with a priority on preserving the natural environment. We're mindful of our future and we're active in empowering young people towards sustainable futures. Providing hope as we deliver future focused strategies to include the Shire's adaption strategy to climate change response. I encourage everyone to continue to engage and respond to the call of action to build a future that we want to see for future generations. Together we can build a better future. Together we are stronger. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you councillor. That's lovely. Thank you. Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Very briefly. A hallmark of the preparation of this budget had been the public debate around the impact

00:54:00 of valuations. The key problem wasn't that it's happened twice in a year. That created a lot of work for these people that they don't really do every year. The key problem is the distribution of those increases. We talk about a bell curve. Well it wasn't one of those bell curves where you have this nice central tendency and things. We had a very skewed distribution so it's for those way out here the rise was very significant. Now we don't get involved in the valuations and we know by looking at it some of those changes are a result of probably reflecting past errors. They've realised that all of a sudden this end of the street's got ocean views. We'd better change it to charge them the same, value them the same as the street next door that's got ocean views. But why does that matter in the context of a budget? It matters because we have the ability to set a rate in the dollar that's going to

00:55:00 try to minimise the impact on those people who live here. We have a category that's called principal place of residence and that has been where we probably had the most debate, the most focus. We probably revisited our decision at least six if not ten or twelve times to try and get that response that had the most equity and still said the majority of people would be under the cost price index. All that debate has been focussed on people who live here and own properties. Two years ago we recognised that people who own properties who let out for holidaymakers, they provide a valuable service but they're running a business. So we set up a category for transitory accommodation.

00:56:00 There was a little bit of discussion about what the increase meant but for most people it was an extra night that they had to pay. One more night for one of their guests was about the raise for most of them. Since that two years a whole host of other councils have followed to recognise it and I think this year Brisbane's making a bit of a song and dance about it. That's not where our focus has been this year. That's flowed through. Our focus in this budget and when we say we're keeping the middle general rate to below CPI that means that the vast majority of people who live here, their rates will increase less than their electricity, their petrol and everything else that's gone up ginormously. What it won't do is for those people who have been caught in the big bubble of real estate and maybe their valuations went up significantly and the problem we've had in Noosa for decades is that we'll have people who bought here years ago are asset rich but catch full and there's

00:57:00 a range of different mechanisms that this council will do to ensure those people are not unduly burdened by trying to pay their rates. So as our message will be when the people get their lovely rates bill, it really was the major input at a political level this year was about putting residents first. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Councillor Stockwell. Councillor Wilkie: Madam Mayor, a point of clarification if I may, there's been some reference to robust debate around the table. I think it's important to say that while there was sweat and there was tears, there was no blood. Mayor Stewart: Thank you Councillor Wilkie, that would be an apt assumption. On that note, I might move that we resume standing orders. Councillor Wilkie: I'll second. Mayor Stewart: Okay. Thank you. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. We are back in formal debate. We have a number of motions.

00:58:00 I believe 15 for adoption of 2.5. So I think it's mandatory to read out each motion and we vote on each motion separately. So this is on page 57 and it's also on the screen Councillor Finzel. So 2.5, 2023, 2024 budget. Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'm just going to move the first one. I'll second the first one. Mayor Stewart: All right. Would you like to speak to it? No. Thank you. I'd like to speak to it. Okay. I might just say quickly because I wrote down some words as everyone was talking around the table and I think you're right Councillor Wilkie, disruption is a great word because two years ago, I don't know if you recall, but I was sitting here alone with the then CEO and you were all on Zoom because of COVID. Now that was in 2021. In 2020, we had just come off new council, come off the campaign trail and we were two or three months into the job. So everything was new. Then 21, we had COVID, obviously in 20 we did as well.

00:59:00 Then last year we were very much feeling the impacts of the floods. So you're exactly right. Disruption is a really good word. And I think Councillor Amelia, you talked about residents first and I think that was really apt because I think in all our debates across all the years, although we've disagreed along the way, we've all, we all put residents first. And I think we all come to a, to a position that does put our residents first. And you know, Councillor Finzel, you talked about empathy and fairness and I think they're great words because we all have empathy. We've all recognised how difficult it is in these economic times and we've tried to provide a budget that is fair, that is equitable and shows, and I think the other word we should use is care because everyone around this table deeply cares for this community. So I, I, I firmly believe that this budget reflects that. Anyway, I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you.

01:00:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Madam Mayor, I'll add a little bit to the element of what's before us that it incorporates statements of income expenditure, financial position, cash flow, change in equity, long term financial forecasts, revenue statements, revenue policies, capital program, all of those. There's a lot of other documents in here as well that don't get a mention in there and aren't necessarily something that we're, we're required to deliver, but we do deliver. And one of those is the service catalogue, the service level catalogue. And I urge anybody that wonders what goes on in council and what goes on in the day-to-day operations of council, have a look at the service level catalogue. Have a look at the number of, of elements that are, that are facilitated within and see the, see the work that goes on to keep the Shire and, and the ratepayers well, looked after with regards to the, the staff and the, the, the implementation of the, the expenditure that goes on in this, in this council. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Before we vote on it, I do have to under legislation, I think, read out each motion.

01:01:00 So I'll just, just read it out so, so everyone's aware. Motion 1. That pursuant to section 104 of the Local Government Act 2009 and section 170 of the Local Government Regulations 2012, the budget for the financial year ending 30 June, 2024, incorporating statements of income and expenditure, financial position, cash flows, changes in equity, long-term financial forecast, revenue statement and revenue policy in the 2023-24 capital program as contained in the Noosa Council 2023-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June, 2023. Be it. Would anyone else like to speak to this? We'll put it to a vote. All in favour? Unanimous. Congratulations, guys. Motion 2. The pursuant to Section 94 of the Local Government Act 2009 and Section 80 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to levy the differential general rates for the 2023-2024 financial year

01:02:00 as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. Councilor Lorentzen moves. Seconded. Thank you, Councillor Finzel. Would anyone like to talk to it? Councilor Lorentzen? Would anyone like to talk to it? All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. Motion 3. The pursuant to Section 81 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves that the rating category of ratable land in its local government area and a description of each of the rating categories for 2023-24 be as follows and is tabled in the Regulation. Motion 4. The pursuant to Section 94 of the Local Government Act 2009 and Section 94 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to levy the special charges for the 2023-24 financial year as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document

01:03:00 provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. Special charges in the revenue statement are Noosa Waters Lock and Weir Maintenance Levy, Noosa Waters Canal Maintenance Levy, Noosa Junction Levy, Hastings Street Precinct Levy, Noosa Main Beach Levy, Hastings Street Community Safety Programme Charge, Lower Noosa North Shore Electricity Charge, Noosa Junction Streetscape Levy. Okay. Seconded. Councillor Wegener. Thank you. We should speak to it. Councillor Jurisevic: I've got a question, actually, for our Director of Transport Services. The Lower North Shore Noosa North Shore Electricity Charge. Am I correct? Is this the last year that we'll be implementing that? Is this the end of the loan to the residents to get electricity to the North Shore? Speaker 2: To the Chair, yes, that is correct. After an extended term recovering that cost, this is the last year and it will finish as of 3 June next year. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Okay. Thank you. And the final bit of that was for that purpose, rateable land to which the special charges apply and the overall plans for the services,

01:04:00 facilities or activities to which the special charges apply be the rateable land and overall plans specified in the revenue statement. So I put it to a vote. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. Motion 5. That pursuant to Section 94 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to adopt the overall plans, annual implementation plans and benefited area maps specified in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023 for the special charges it resolves to levy under Resolution 4. I'll move that. Thank you, Councillor Lorentzen. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. Motion 6. That pursuant to Section 94 of the Local Government Act 2009 and Section 99 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to levy the utility charges for the 23-24 financial year as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023.

01:05:00 That pursuant to Section 94 of the Local Government Act 2009 and Section 103 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to levy the separate rates and charges for the 23-24 financial year as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. Separate rates and charges set out in the revenue statement are environment levy, sustainable housing, sustainable transport levy, heritage levy, bushfire resilience and response levy. I'll move that. You second it, Councillor Finzel? All right. I move that. Councillor Finzel seconds it. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you. Motion 8. That pursuant to Section 109 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 and Section 114 of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990, Council resolves that rates and utility charges and the Queensland Government's emergency management levy for the year ending 30 June 2024 will be levied six-monthly and as set out

01:06:00 in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. I'll move that. Councillor Drusevich, thank you. Seconded by Councillor Lorentson, thank you. All in favour? Unanimous, thank you. Motion 9. That pursuant to Section 122 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves to grant concessions to ratepayers as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document and Council's general rate donations policy. I'll move it, Madam Mayor. Councillor Wilkie, seconded by Councillor Finzel. Councillor Wilkie? No, thank you. All in favour? Unanimous. Motion 10. That pursuant to Section 118 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves that all rates and charges must be paid within 30 days after the date of issue of the rates notice. Councillor Laurenston, or Councillor Finzel, all in favour? Unanimous. Motion 11. That pursuant to Section 133 of the Local Government Regulation 2012, Council resolves that all overdue rates and charges bear interest as set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24

01:07:00 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. Councillor Driscoll, Councillor Wegener, second. All in favour? Unanimous. Motion 12. That pursuant to Section 257 of the Local Government Act 2009, Council delegates to the Chief Executive Officer its powers under Section 81 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 to identify the differential rating category into which each parcel of rateable land in the Council's local government area is included by using relevant information from the Council's land record and any other information which identifies the use of rateable land. Councillor Lorentson, or Councillor Finzel, all in favour? Unanimous. Motion 13. That it be recorded that in each case where a preceding motion refers to a matter set out in the revenue statement contained in the Noosa Council 23-24 budget document provided as attachment 1 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023, that matter is incorporated by reference into and forms part of the terms and content of the motion, and will be so incorporated and form part

01:08:00 of the terms and content of Council's resolution to adopt the motion. I'd like to move it. Councillor Druisvig, seconded. Councillor Wegener, all in favour? Unanimous. Thank you, Elinda. Motion 14. That Council note the revised 23-24 service level catalogues provided in attachment 2 to the special meeting report dated 30 June 2023. I'll move this. Councillor Finzel, second. All in favour? Unanimous. Last one. Motion 15. That Council approve the proposed increase in the organisational establishment from $418 per year to $412.11 to $432.38 full-time equivalent FTE as outlined in the attached report. Councillor Lorentson. I'll second that. All in favour? That is unanimous. Thank you. All done, everyone. Okay. One more. Now for the last item on the agenda, which is item 2.6 and is the operational plan. And I believe we have our Executive Officer, Internal Audit and Corporate Performance, Deb Yetse, to present. Deb, thank you very much. Speaker 3: Good morning, Councillor. Good morning. The Local Government Regulation requires that

01:09:00 Council prepare and adopt an operational plan consistent with its annual budget, and the operational plan has been prepared on that basis. We also have a new corporate plan that was endorsed earlier this year, so the operational plan also reflects the priorities and the deliverables for the first year of the corporate plan, and they're structured in five themes. So, the operational plan also reflects the priorities and the deliverables for the first year of the corporate plan, and so the operational plan is also being structured to align with the corporate plan. The other source of initiatives is from the actual budget process, where proposed initiatives are put forward and considered by the executive team, but also Council, and then either put forward for inclusion in the budget or not. You also have initiatives that have come from our key strategies and plans, such as our environment strategies, which are endorsed strategies and plans of Council. So, that is the basis of the operational plan, and that's what's being put forward today for adoption.

2.6 OPERATIONAL PLAN 2023-24 ¶

▶ 01:09:05· Carried unanimously 7-0 from council's minutes

01:10:00 Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I have a question, but I think we'll go to the CEO. As part of the corporate planning process, we made a commitment and we did some investigation about how we can improve the effectiveness of our performance evaluation systems, our key performance indicators, how we track those, so that as a councillor we get a feeling not of just what we've done, but what the outcome, what is the impact on it. Can you let me know whether we will be in a position to, either through software or other processes, start that process to look at the performance of this operational plan, and when it's likely to occur? Speaker 1: Sure. Thank you for the question, and through you, Madam Mayor. Absolutely, we are. Obviously, it's been a very busy period with the budgets and the corporate plan and the operational plan being developed over a period of time. I think it's been a very busy period, and a very short period, or a tight period. So the next phase for us is now to, with the

01:11:00 operational plan, is to unravel that even further in terms of KPIs for our staff, and that's something that we're very conscious of, and something that we're really keen to put in place. And I think, to be honest, so are our staff. Everybody wants to know what their expectation is and what they need to achieve. So I don't think that that's an unreasonable thing, but I think it's something that we need to formalise a little bit more than we have in the past, and I think that's what you're getting at, Councillor. And we do want to formalise that, and we also are in the process of, as part of our development of the corporate plan, was to look at technology that is going to help us with that. That's sort of found its way along, but it's something that we now know we've got this out of the way, but this done, we need to now focus on that technology and implementing it. Picking the right one and implementing it. We're in the phase of chosen the right one with tech one. We now need to just put it into play. So that's our next focus. And I think it's

01:12:00 a reasonable request. I think that that's something that we all like to know. We all like to know where we are, be able to measure ourselves against it, so at the end of the year or end of the period or various periods during the year, we don't want any surprises either as individuals or as humans. So to have that in play is a good thing, and that's something that we're more than keen to implement. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. It includes a recommendation. I'll second it. Councillor Wilkie, thank you. Would you like to speak to it? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: You might have to pretend that we still suspended standing orders. All right. He's got the clock on. I had left the majority of my comments to the operational plan because this is an area that either councillors or the community have had a chance to look at publicly again. And we actually haven't at this point published some of the figures around the operational initiatives that have been put forward this year as new. There is some mention in the budget report about new staff members. I think looking at how we do it to get the maximum

01:13:00 impact of what we invest in is really important. And the operational plan for me is where that rubber hits the road. We're in a position where we've just got a large new suite of managers all about to start. And I would have thought it would be really important that they all come up with their first 100-day plan, that one of those things is you establish how you're going to measure the impact by this time next year. And that's where a good performance management system will come into place. But that's not where the majority of my comments are aligned. The majority of my comments are about, someone said that the current mantra is about just getting on and doing it. And so I thought I'd pull out a few things that for me are important to get on and do. And I'm going to start with an issue that's been over 200 years in the making. And I'm going to finish with one that's very fresh in the last week. So obviously the one that's 200 years in the making is Council Finzel did acknowledge the

01:14:00 traditional owners. And when we pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging, we follow through by doing things that reduces the inequity that has resulted from the injustice that occurred historically. We know that this landscape was inhabited by the Kabi Kabi people. We know that this landscape was inhabited by the Kabi Kabi people and was taken from them and many of them moved off the land. So for the last few years, we've been focusing our effort on how to address inequity by being a part of the process of native title. That's nearly coming to the end. So in this budget and the operational initiative, we're moving to the next step of starting looking at how is it best for this council to start honouring that commitment through a reconciliation action plan. Now, there's a lot of debate at the moment about whether or not we're going to be doing this through the federal government referendum process. But basically what we'll be doing is how do we make it fair? How do

01:15:00 we actually encourage both ownership but also involvement of both Kabi Kabi and other Indigenous people within our community in the future prosperity, sustainability of the Shire? And one of the things that we do really well is care for country. And so in this operational budget, we'll be adopting a Noosa River plan. So one of the initiatives perhaps in the reconciliation plan will be to negotiate how we may work with them so they get land and sea ranger funds from the federal government to help us implement that plan. That can be very practical. So that's the one for 200 years in the making. Talking about caring for country, the next one I'm going to mention, I've been advocating for every budget since 2018. And if anyone would be a fly on all these budget sessions, it generally takes you about three or four years as a council to get something up. But we have $380,000 for the implementation of the enforcement encroachment policy. And that

01:16:00 includes a sizeable allocation to rehabilitation of our bushland reserves as part of it, as well as staff members to do that encroachment, staff members to do that implementation. For me, 2018, done. Another one we get, sometimes we'll look at, and the criticising, we're just building Pelican Street with new staff. And it's really great. I think this is the first time since 2016 where I can stand up and say, we've got two new outside workforce members in the budget. And they're not blue colour, they're green colour. They're in the parks crew. So we've got a new staff member, a new ganger for the now award-winning Croy Hippoland, which is the Hippoland Playground. And we have a new ganger to add to the staff at the Botanical Gardens. And what's more, we have $65,000 to do a master plan to say how the Botanical

01:17:00 Gardens on the beautiful shores of Lake MacDonald will be developed in the future. And I'm sure that will include a whole lot of rare and endangered native plant propagation. We move on from parks, which were a really clear priority. It was a priority for people when we did the liveability survey. When we did the corporate plan, a surprise package when people were writing about what they wanted, housing came up as a second highest priority. So this is one that since 2019 I've been advocating for. And we actually have 500 or 600, 500,000 in a social housing partnership, but that's not coming, it's not now identified to come out of break-pay funds. That's identified as gaining state government funding to work with them on probably two really important sites to develop both community housing and public housing on the state government

01:18:00 land. So to me, that's excellent. But council is really a cradle to the grave organisation. And because one of those sites is a site that was bought for future, for people to lie on down in for an extended period of time, we're also, we're also investing in a cemeteries plan because we have to look at the future. Because no matter what you do, there's one thing inevitable about life. It comes to an end. So. Councillor Wilkie: Well, go on, bring the mood down. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Sorry. Another one that, actually, this is one of those ones that gets up every budget. It's a big one. That's the strategic land review. That's about looking at council's assets and saying, what land have we got and what is the best use for?

01:19:00 Are there commercial opportunities? Are there sale opportunities? Are there community uses? And so that's in there. And one of those areas that are going to be looked at is the land we bought on John's Landing, which is currently part of the wonderful floating land exhibition. And so we're looking at the options out there. Okay. We're looking at how to do things more efficiently. And so when we look at getting down and doing it, we don't necessarily have to use people at the time. We can use technology. So there is 281 K in Canberra car project. And that's with local laws. And so there's no points for guessing how that's going to pay for itself. My only warning is make sure you park for the right amount of time and in the right spot. But we also, and this one is probably going to be a surprise to people, we've got 94 K to actually go to this really leading edge system. It's called electronic time and payroll system.

01:20:00 It's really amazing that an organisation our size hasn't got one, that people are still filling in Excel timesheets. But as part of this budget, what we also haven't spruced is to get a lot of these operation budget funded. The first point that the new mean director of... Corporate Services did was get everyone to find their savings. And there was $250,000 worth of savings identified. Now, we all know every time we ask the community, the number one priority of what they want to see council do is protect the environment. And this is my last one. And we know that in the news, there has been a lot of... But that's not saying that we've lost the war. In our corporate plan, we had a new outcome that we put up and that was to be nature positive.

01:21:00 That means that from the beginning of the corporate plan to the end, we'll have more nature than we did when we started. And the best demonstrate that is in the operational initiatives, we are investing in environment levy. We continue to purchase land that has high environmental value. So we haven't said where. But we have put a contract on 69 hectares of land recently that will be finalized in the next financial year. That 69 hectares has 67 hectares that's vegetated. A lot of that is regional ecosystem. Renda regional ecosystem, 12, 11, 15. That's blue gum, bloodwood, grass trees. But one of the species that occurs in that ecosystem is alacruz arena, turulosa, or forest shego, one of the glossy black cockatoo pea trees. So 67 hectares adding to the protected area estate. So I think it's important to understand that we're not, a budget's not just about building roads, collecting rates, and reducing rubbish.

01:22:00 It's also about creating a place where people like to live and protecting the environment where they like to enjoy their relaxation. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I told you this. Mayor Stewart: That was, yes. I think it's important to understand that we're not just about building roads, collecting Would anyone else like to talk to the operational plan? Councillor Lorentson? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, we'll call it. Mayor Stewart: Oh, Councillor Lorentson. Councillor Jurisevic: There's a couple of things in here. I mean, I said I'll mention the service label catalogue, and that's the businesses usually like to use, but what this does is fundamentally outlines what the priorities are for the next 12 months, which we go to the other programs. Another great document to read if you want to see what Council's undertaking. Some of the priorities and key projects, Councillor Stockwell alluded to, some of the ones that he might have missed there is, we mentioned this, I'm showing too much plan, but the community halls, DDA compliance and asset condition review to improve quality and use. One of the things that we find is, you know, the legacy of times gone past is legislation change, but also we understand the needs within the community are required,

01:23:00 and DDA compliance is one of those. One of the points that I requested this year was that we start to review our community halls to go to DDA compliance and asset condition to see what improvements can be made and how we can structure a process of improvement into the future. The most significant one, apart from the capital program of $39 million, which is right up there with some of the highest views in capital programs, is, in addition to that, a disaster recovery infrastructure program estimated at over $80 million to reinstate infrastructure impacted by the February 2022 flood event, with funding provided by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. That's a bucket load of work, on top of the business-as-usual council, to try and reinstate all the impact of that flood event. And we thank the Queensland Reconstruction Authority for their support in, their supporting our community with the projects that are needed to be,

01:24:00 you know, the elements that are needed to be reconstructed. The major project, of course, being Black Mountain Road. And the benefits of these, this is how long it takes for these things to come through the process to get, get to, you know, come to fruition. So that one for me is the one I'll be watching with bode to breath to see all of those projects and those areas being rehabilitated back to, or enhanced from their previous condition. Thank you to the generous support of QRA. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor Joy. Councillor Miller. Councillor Lorentson: We've spoken a lot about mantras and taglines, getting things done, back to basics, all our arts. I want to just reinforce who we are. And I think that's really well articulated in the operational plan. Our mission. We are Noosa different by nature. And I think that's got to underpin every decision we make

01:25:00 and remind us all what our competitive edge is. And it's our environment and our community. Mayor Stewart: Oh, thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Lovely. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Kingsley. I'm sure, why not? You can have eight minutes too. Councillor Wilkie: And go. And go. Time starts now. Councillor Finzel: With regards to the operational plan, I'd like to also reference the KPIs. I think it is really important that as we deliver our budget, and we are looking back to basics, I think efficiency and productivity are two main areas we should be focusing on as we try to engender trust with our community to show that we are delivering an efficient organisation with measurable outcomes. And we can track where we're at and be accountable to our community. So I'm really enthusiastic to see that we're going to proceed forward and really focus on those outcomes and where we're going.

01:26:00 And we can bring everyone on that journey and we can measure the outcome. And I also think that it's really great to be able to apply the Reconciliation Action Plan and get that underway so that it becomes embedded in this organisation, that we can be a leading organisation when it comes to looking at cultural awareness and education and identity as we work towards inclusion and a respectful society. So I'd like to thank all my councillors here today for your commitment to that course. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: You've still got seven minutes left. No, I think we should be moving on. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We've got eight pages left. Mayor Stewart: Councillor Wegener? No? Councillor? No, thank you. All right. We'd just close. Do you dare to close? I'm watching you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll close by saying the proof will be in the pudding,

01:27:00 that an operational plan is a guide to what we do in a year and will be assessed halfway through the year in about March whether we've actually been operating any good goals. Councillor Wilkie: Well done. All right. Is something happening in March? I'm sorry. Mayor Stewart: Well, on that note, we'll put the recommendation to a vote. All in favour? Unanimous. Thank you, Elinda. Thank you. That brings us to the... There are no confidential items. And that brings us to the end of the meeting, 11.27. We close it. And congratulations, everyone. That is our 2023-24 budget done and dusted.

4 MEETING CLOSURE ¶

▶ 01:27:48

Council's recording ends before this item. Where a meeting resolved to close its doors, that is what the end of the recording means — see what council discussed in private.