Why every dollar counts at budget time

AN interesting post and lively discussion on social media over the weekend about the condition of the bridges on Olsen’s Walk and the need for constant work to keep the Korumburra Botanic Park in the state we’d all like to see highlights an important and timely point.

At this time of the year our local councils are applying the finishing touches to their annual budgets, and while they like to highlight the works and services that are included, they don’t often produce a list of projects, programs and community requests that can’t go ahead for lack of funding.

It’s a list we’d like to see.

Certainly, the community of Korumburra would like more funding for the Korumburra Botanic Park, but through the ‘Friends’ group they’ve accepted that there’s only a certain amount of funding available.

It highlights the fact that every dollar counts where councils are concerned and why areas of waste, and overspending must be ruthlessly stamped out.

At the February meeting of the Bass Coast Shire Council, local resident, Mal Pinkerton, asked a pertinent question about ‘Operational Efficiency Improvement Targets’ and frankly did not get the proper response from council.

“What are the council’s operational efficiency improvements targets for 2024?” he wanted to know. “Please provide a list.”

Turns out council doesn’t have a target for efficiency. It should. So should South Gippsland Shire.

“Council does not have formal efficiency targets. Council is required to keep growth contained within the rate cap and notes that in recent years the rate cap has been well below CPI, imposing a significant efficiency factor,” said Council in response.

It completely misses the point of the question to be talking about the rate cap and limited funding, accept to acknowledge that a level of efficiency is being forced on the council rather than planned for and embraced.

The fact is that priorities change and areas of spending, including but not limited to employee costs, expected to balloon out to $37 million at Bass Coast next financial year, must be reviewed and justified in minute detail every year… because every dollar counts.

We know this because the annual rounds of community grants at both shires, which closed in the past few days, are always heavily oversubscribed with requests for great community projects, like the bridges on Olsen’s Walk.

Our councillors need to make an artform of questioning the funding priorities in their annual budgets, and also probing areas of waste and possible improvement.

And in the case of Bass Coast, they should be demanding detailed performance reports, separately, on both the Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre and Berninneit centre, if they are to acknowledge that every dollar counts.