By CASEY NEILL
City of Greater Dandenong has given the green light to its proposed 2016-’17 budget.
The council will bring in almost $108 million in rates over the next financial year, and will spend $47.8 million on capital works and $19.47 million on asset renewal.
This is the first budget under the State Government-imposed 2.5 per cent average rate rise cap.
The average rate increase across the municipality will be $34.90 a year, or 66 cents per week.
But booming property values will cause double-digit rate rises in some suburbs, while other property owners see a drop in their rates bill.
The council’s corporate services director Mick Jaensch said Dandenong and Dandenong North properties would experience lower rates because property values there generally increase by less than the 24 per cent average.
“Suburbs such as Springvale, Springvale South, Noble Park and Keysborough all had above-average increases in their valuations,” he said.
“Some could have double digit increases easily.”
Mr Jaensch said that without a cap in place, the rate rise would have been 5.5 per cent and generated another $3 million for capital works.
“There’s no one single thing that has necessarily missed out. All the directorates have had to tighten their belts,” he said.
Late additions to the budget were $35,000 for a ‘wombat crossing’ speed hump in Dandenong’s Menzies Avenue, $20,000 for a steam weeding trial and $352,000 for the Sarah Lands parkland development in Keysborough.
The document included $8.65 million for the Springvale Civic Precinct, including the Springvale Town Hall redevelopment, due to start in October and finish before June next year.
The council allocated $3.3 million towards a new pavilion, car park and access road at Keysborough’s Tatterson Park, plus $3.26 million for the project from the federal and state governments.
A $400,000 allocation to Local Area Traffic Management will tackle issues in Dandenong North’s Devira Street, Besley Street in Dandenong, Titcher Road in Noble Park North, and Springvale’s Regent Avenue.
