The Victorian Local Government sector is facing financial challenges due to increased costs of service delivery, inflation, limited revenue resources and recovery from natural disasters. At Hepburn Shire, our financial environment as with others, has been impacted by rising inflation and costs in the delivery of services, infrastructure delivery, cost shifting from other levels of government, and costs associated with recovery from recent flooding and storm events. Multiple years of State Government prescribed rate cap below inflation has also had a negative impact on our financial sustainability. We have limited opportunities for alternate income streams.

Council is committed to transparency and accountability when delivering on our financial strategy and the delivery of our services. In the 2024/25 budget, Council has committed to making $1.5 million in operating savings and is now committing to working with community and Councillors to ensure our long-term financial viability.

In 2025/26, Council needs to find an additional $4 million in long-term savings or additional revenue to develop a financially responsible plan that delivers on our shared Community Vision.

We need your help to understand your priorities in service delivery, and your appetite for a percentage rate increase to ensure Council continues to be able to deliver the level of current services. We would also like to know more about your thoughts on the management of our buildings and infrastructure.

The information you provide will assist us to prepare our Financial Vision and make decisions about Hepburn Shire Council's financial sustainability.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the engagement for our Financial Vision. We appreciated your contributions, the conversations we had together and the time you have taken to read through the resources that were available.

We encourage you to subscribe to this project to be kept up to date. Alternatively, you can receive Council's newsletter Hepburn Life direct to your inbox by subscribing here.

Council will use this feedback, along with the other information, to guide the development of the Financial Vision - our Long-Term Financial Plan. We will have many more conversations with our community as we move towards the development of a new Council Plan in 2025.