Council stands firm on budget

By Sarah Schwager
FIERY debate among councillors on Tuesday night did not change the Casey Council budget for 2007-08.
At the special council meeting, Casey Council adopted its 2007-08 Budget and rate rise of 5.84 per cent.
They rejected a last-ditch attempt by residents of Devon Meadows and Five Ways’ unsealed roads to amend the budget over the special charge scheme to pay for the sealing of Manks, Devon and Browns roads.
The residents tried to persuade councillors to drop what they said were hefty and unnecessary fees amounting to thousands of dollars placed on already struggling locals.
However, the council dismissed the objection on the grounds that all residents living on unsealed roads had to pay a special charge scheme.
Deputy mayor Kevin Bradford said while it was great that council had been able to adopt a low rate rise for residents, he was appalled at the projects cut from the budget.
“In particular I was very disappointed about the rejection of the vehicle for the CFA. It’s probably one of the worst acts I have ever seen council do,” Cr Bradford said.
“We pride ourselves on being a council that supports volunteers.
“Here was an opportunity to support one of our most important volunteer groups in the city and it was knocked back.
“The problem is that now this is going to put a lot of pressure on the next budget and the one after that because it is going to cause a backlog of projects that residents have been demanding for several years. This is not a good situation to be in.”
Mayor Colin Butler said despite some councillors’ comments and the objection from residents at the meeting, he believed it was a pretty well accepted budget throughout the city, with probably the lowest rate rise ever.
“We’ve seen all the figures that have been coming out lately with problems new homebuyers are having and so we have tried to reflect that with low rates.”
The budget includes $57 million in infrastructure projects and $135 million for service delivery.
Major projects include the Cranbourne Aquatic and Leisure Centre, funding for children’s services, youth and family services, community care and health promotion, and almost $11 million for local roads.
Cr Butler said now that the budget has been approved, the council could get on with the job of implementing the numerous initiatives outlined in the budget.