agenda of ordinary meeting of council - 26 april 2016 › report_1_draft_council_plan.pdf ·...

AGENDA - ORDINARY MEETING OF COUNCIL – 26 APRIL 2016

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8.1 DRAFT COUNCIL PLAN 2013-17 (YEAR 4) AND BUDGET 2016/17 - RELEASE FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION

LOCATION/ADDRESS: WHOLE OF MUNICIPALITY

ACTING GENERAL MANAGER: MELISSA HARRIS, ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE

PREPARED BY: DAVID FILMALTER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

STEVEN ROSS, PROJECT MANAGER

TRIM FILE NO: 16/02/154

ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft Council Plan 2013-17

2. Draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20

3. Draft Budget 2016-17

4. Public Notice - release of revised Council Plan 2013-17 and draft Budget 2016

5. Community Engagement Summary Report 2016

PURPOSE This report seeks Council approval to release the draft Council Plan 2013-2017 – Year 4, including the draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20, and the draft Budget 2016/17 for public consultation.

RECOMMENDATION 1.

That Council:

1.1 Releases the draft Council Plan 2013-17 – Year 4, including the draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 for a 28 day period of public consultation (refer Attachments 1 and 2 respectively)

1.2 Releases the draft Budget 2016/17 for a 28 day period of public consultation (refer Attachment 3)

1.3 Authorises the publication of a public notice in the local papers and on the Council website to advertise the draft Council Plan 2013-17 – Year 4 and Budget 2016/17 and calls for submissions from the public under section 223 of the Local Government Act 1989 (refer Attachment 4)

1.4 Publishes on Council’s website the Summary of Community Engagement feedback (refer Attachment 5)

1.5 Receives and hears submissions from the public at the Special Meeting of Council scheduled for Tuesday 7 June 2016 at the St Kilda Town Hall commencing at 6.00 pm prior to considering adoption of the Council Plan 2013-17 – Year 4 and Budget 2016/17 at the Ordinary Meeting of Council at St Kilda Town Hall on Tuesday 28 June 2016.


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BACKGROUND 2.

2.1 Each year Council is required under the Local Government Act 1989 (the Act) to review its four year Council Plan, including the Strategic Resource Plan (SRP) which outlines the financial and non-financial resources required to deliver the plan. The purpose of the review is to determine if amendments are required and prepare an annual budget for the coming financial year.

2.2 Under the Act Council is required to give public notice of any proposed amendments to the Council Plan, SRP and the draft Budget and consider submissions following a 28 day public consultation period.

2.3 A range of activities have been undertaken to support the review of the Council Plan 2013-17 and preparation of the draft Budget 2016/17. This included extensive community engagement over a six-week period from 25 January to 7 March 2016 and included direct mailout to all residents, “Have Your Say” online consultation, pop-up Council stands at local markets as well as key engagement with our harder to reach communities and key stakeholder community groups.

2.4 Council received more than 1,000 pieces of feedback through pop-up engagement events, open house sessions, stakeholder meetings, and an online survey making it the most participative and successful community pre-engagement on our draft Council Plan and Budget.

KEY INFORMATION 3.

3.1 This report represents the outcome of Council’s annual review of the Council Plan 2013-17 (refer Attachment 1) and the draft Budget 2016/17 (refer Attachment 3).

3.2 The draft Council Plan 2013-17 – Year 4 is supported by the draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 (refer Attachment 2), which outlines the financial and non-financial resources identified by the Council to deliver on the Budget 2016/17, which is the final year of the Council Plan 2013-17, and the following three financial years.

3.3 The draft Budget 2016/17 details the resources required over the next year to fund the large range of services Council provides to its community. It also includes details of the proposed project portfolio build allocated to improve and renew the City’s infrastructure, buildings and operational assets.

Financial context

3.4 On 22 December 2015, the Victorian Government announced a rates cap for 2016/17 applying to all local authorities of 2.5 per cent, based on projected movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Local authorities can apply to the Essential Services Commission (the independent economic regulator) for rate increases above CPI, where those increases are justifiable to the community.


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3.5 Council had already endorsed the 10-Year Financial Plan at its meeting on 24 November 2015 and agreed not to apply to the independent economic regulator for a variation to the rates cap in 2016/17. In endorsing the 10-Year Financial Plan, Council noted the approach to meeting the significant challenge of rates capping. More specifically, identifying:

o opportunities to further reduce Council’s cost base without impacting service levels (such as efficiencies identified through improvements in processes, procurement and project planning and delivery)

o opportunities to ensure that user fees and charges reflect the benefit that individual community members receive (that is, rates funding is not unreasonably subsidising services that provide private benefit)

o service delivery options, including changes to the way services are currently delivered and consideration of service level changes in areas of lower strategic priority.

3.6 At the time of the adoption of the 10 Year Financial Plan, Council needed to find savings of around $1.4 million in 2016/17 to address the challenge of rates capping, noting that the cumulative impact of the rate cap gap was estimated at $67 million over ten years if the State Government’s current policy on rate capping continues.

Financial strategy

3.7 Council’s costs typically increase more than the general inflation rate due to the nature of services we provide, which typically have a high dependency on labour and external contractors, and the associated costs. Notwithstanding this, the challenge for Council was to close this gap by being innovative, productive and delivering better value for money, while continuing to improve services and the vibrancy of our city.

3.8 Council has applied the following financial principles in reviewing the Council Plan (through the draft Strategic Resource Plan) and preparing the draft Budget 2016/17:

o ensuring that Council’s financial resources are applied towards achieving the desired outcomes, strategies and initiatives articulated in the Council Plan 2013-2017

o ensuring that Council balances its expenditure on services and capital works with the revenue it receives

o judiciously applying cash backed reserves to fund projects and programs that are consistent with the purpose envisaged when the reserve appropriation was originally made

o setting and applying realistic targets to identify efficiencies from the organisation and build these into the budget

o reviewing and re-prioritising services and/or service levels that have a low community and/or Council Plan impact and redirecting any savings into higher priority services

o judiciously using borrowings or reserves for capital works projects that will deliver future operational savings and/or additional revenue that will fund the additional debt servicing and redemption costs.


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o continuing to invest in the identification and delivery of community infrastructure and public open space in the Fishermans Bend Education and Community Precint. The key focus will be on advocacy with the State Government and aims to deliver this using a partnering approach, with investment to be funded from Public Open Space contributions and internal borrowings (temporary use of surplus reserves to fund investment).

o using debt to fund large non recurrent capital works projects that can be expected to provide benefits to future generations.

o ensuring that efficiencies captured during the financial year are realised in future financial years by building these into the forward budget targets and estimates.

o working closely with key government and other stakeholders to develop a funding plan for the restoration of the iconic Palais theatre.

Financial challenges in developing the draft Budget 2015/16 and reviewing the Council Plan

3.9 There have been a number of other financial challenges to developing the draft Budget 2016/17:

o significant growth in development across the municipality has required Council to review resourcing of frontline services including city permits, amenity, planning, waste management and building services that are impacted by this growth

o the local government sector in general has been affected by reductions in general purpose Federal Government grants

o additional costs in relation to Work Cover and premiums

o inadequate indexation of state grants for recurrent programs (including funding for Libraries, Home and Community Care)

o inadequate indexation of the Victorian Grants Commission allocation

o increases in the Victorian Landfill Levy on waste disposals

o restrictions on fee increase in planning permits, land information certifications and other fees and charges set by the Victorian State Government

o Introduction of the Congestion Levy.


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Budget summary

3.10 The draft Budget 2016/17 balances the demand for services and infrastructure with a key focus on making tangible progress on the projects and services that are aligned to Council priorities. Some key elements include:

o a rate increase of 2.5 per cent (equivalent to the rates cap) and closes the $1.4 million gap identified in the 10-Year Financial Plan for the 2016/17 financial year without impacting on service levels or projects. This has been achieved through a continued strong focus on prudent financial management, careful prioritisation and commitment to productivity and efficiency. The draft Budget 2016/17:

• includes over $2 million of efficiency savings and other ongoing savings that were identified in the Mid-Year Forecast Review 2015/16. This builds on the $5 million of ongoing efficiency savings that have been included in the two previous budgets

• accommodates increased resourcing for front line services in planning, permits and amenity in response to growth as well as one-off election costs

o $45 million in projects that renew assets and deliver on major commitments. This is one of the largest project portfolios undertaken by the City of Port Phillip. This significant investment reflects that we are a densely populated urban municipality in a coastal environment, which places strain on our already ageing assets. Some of the significant projects we will invest in this year include:

• redeveloping the St Kilda and South Melbourne Life Saving Clubs

• improvements to children centres

• building upgrades for Gasworks and Linden Gallery

• ongoing renewal works to our roads, footpaths, drains, parks and streetscapes and

• the Ferrars Street Education and Community Precinct project.

o a budget that generates a net cash surplus of $0.92 million, providing Council with a modest contingency for opportunities that may arise, any unexpected budget shocks that may emerge during the year such as additional funding for Palais Theatre or Fishermans Bend related costs and future rate capping.

3.11 The draft Budget 2016/17 includes an increase in employee expenses of 3.85 per cent or $3.1 million, when compared with the Budget 2015/16. The increase compared to the Budget 2015/16 is due to:

o an assumed increase in salary expenses and banding movements of equivalent to 2.5 per cent, noting that the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement is to be negotiated in the 2016/17 financial year ($2 million)

o additional costs in Work Cover premiums. The main driver for this increase is the dissolution of the Streetsahead Joint Venture and the transfer of their employees to Council ($205,000)


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o a net increase of 4.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff ($500,000). This is less than the year on year growth of 10.6 positions assumed in the adopted Strategic Resource Plan 2015-19. Broken down as follows:

• 7.5 FTE of the new positions are linked to growth in population and development over the recent years, which has increased pressure on Council’s frontline services including city permits, amenity, planning and building. While we have made productivity improvements, the volume of service growth requires a temporary increase in resourcing to maintain satisfactory service levels. This is consistent with our growth trends that show annual increases of approximately 800 new dwellings each year and

• 2.7 FTE of the new positions are externally funded and

• there is a reduction of 5.6 FTE in management and other positions

o additional agency costs ($313,000) in design, transport and safety, emergency management and records

o additional overtime costs ($60,000)

Ensuring we recover costs through fair and appropriate user charges

3.12 All fees and charges have been reviewed. In most cases, fees and charges are proposed to increase by 2.75 per cent. There are some exceptions:

o a proposed increase of 4.6 per cent to long day-care fees (an increase from $115.20 to $120.50 per day). This reflects the increased cost of this service because of legislated staffing ratio changes from 1:15 to 1:11 for children three years and over and will maintain Council’s contribution to the service at current levels. Council’s fees for long day-care are in line with commercial and community run centres in Port Phillip and marginally higher than neighbouring councils

o a continuation of the current reduction in the Acland Street and Fitzroy Street footpath trading rates to Council’s standard footpath trading rates, as scheduled in the Footpath Trading Fee Structure 2016/17, for the 2016/17 financial year.

o proposed changes to Town Hall hire fees including changing Friday charges to weekend tariffs and reducing the fees for South Melbourne and Port Melbourne Town Halls by 40 per cent to encourage greater usage

o a proposed increase of 3.0 per cent to visitor parking permits, a proposed increase of 3.77 per cent to foreshore parking permits and a proposed increase to hourly on-street parking fees of 3.0 per cent, which will help offset Council’s parking congestion levy.

o There are no changes to statutory fees.


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3.13 There will be some new fees introduced for 2016/17 including:

o varying fees for some Esplanade Market permits, ready to eat food stalls and coffee vendor permits. New fees for some Grand Prix stallholders

o new fees for reissuing a parking permit, parking enforcement vehicle storage after the first 48 hours and vehicle release fee for unregistered and abandoned vehicles (consistent with clearway release fees)

o new fees for on-road events with fewer than 2000 registered participants, reprinting prior year rates notices and for distributing Port Phillip business flyers at public space events.

3.14 Details of exceptions and new fees and charges is explicit in the draft Budget 2016/17 document in Attachment 3.

Selling properties that are not required for service delivery or are not providing value to our community

3.15 The draft Budget 2016/17 includes $1.5 million in property sales of low strategic value to be kept in reserve to support future strategic property development and acquisition.

Using reserves where appropriate to invest in new or improved assets

3.16 The draft Budget 2016/17 proposes to use reserves (as a source of internal borrowing) for projects that will benefit future generations such as the Ferrars Street Education and Community Precinct ($5.4 million) or where the project will deliver ongoing cost savings and/or increase Council revenue

o This approach is a cost-effective and prudent way for Council to keep borrowing costs to a minimum.

Revaluation of all properties located within the City of Port Phillip

3.17 Councils are required to carry out revaluations of all properties within the municipality on a biennial basis. A revaluation results in a redistribution of the rate burden among ratepayers that occurs every two years. That redistribution is based on the market movement of property values from 1 January 2014 to 1 January 2016 which varies from property type and location within the municipality.

3.18 During the 2015/16 financial year, a revaluation of all properties within the municipality was carried out, with a level of value date of 1 January 2016. This valuation will be applied for the first time when rates are distributed across the municipality in the 2016/17 year. While the overall outcome of the revaluation reflected average increases in property values across the municipality of 14 per cent, there have been some significant variations for different property types and across some neighbourhoods. Residential dwellings experienced an average valuation increase of 23 per cent and Fishermans Bend properties experienced average valuation increases of 16 per cent. More muted valuation increases were recorded for units (7 per cent) and commercial properties (8 per cent).


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3.19 The revaluation will result in a shift in the rates burden from commercial properties and units to detached dwellings and properties in the Fishermans Bend precinct. This will result in ratepayers who own detached dwellings, as well as property in the Fishermans Bend area, experiencing significantly higher rate increases than the average CPI increase of 2.5 per cent. Owners of units and commercial property will on average experience increases below the 2.5 per cent average and may in fact have rate reductions.

Review of the Council Plan 2013-17

3.20 Community feedback, Council’s operating environment and Council’s current performance delivering on key actions in the Council Plan have informed the review of the Council Plan. As a result of this review the following changes are proposed:

o four Council Plan measures were updated (out of a total of 34) to reflect changes in our operating environment and performance measurement capability since the plan was last reviewed. These updates relate to transparency of Council decisions, efficiency of Council, clearer understanding of satisfaction with our family, youth and children’s services and satisfaction with how Council is supporting sustainability in the community.

o updated information and text changes to better align messaging with what is proposed in the draft Budget 2016/17

o a refresh of the “look and feel” based on design concept layouts to improve alignment to current City of Port Phillip branding, increase accessibility and visually identify Year 4 of the Council Plan as distinct from the previous years while still maintaining cohesion. This also includes a change in layout to A4 to make format consistent with the draft Budget and Strategic Resource Plan documents and assist with ease of use online and printing.

Draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 and the rates gap challenge

3.21 The Strategic Resource Plan (SRP) outlines Council’s planned investment of the financial and non-financial resources identified by the Council to deliver on the Budget 2016/17, which is the final year of the Council Plan 2013-17, and the following three financial years.

3.22 Council endorsed the 10-Year Financial Plan including the forward year assumptions at its meeting on 24 November 2015. The SRP applies the 10-Year Financial Plan assumptions as a starting point and updates assumptions where relevant.

3.23 Some of the key assumption changes are:

o the 10 Year Financial Plan assumed CPI projections of 2.5 per cent from 2017/18 onwards. The SRP projections have been updated to reflect the latest Deloitte Access projections of 2.5, 2.4 and 2.3 per cent for the following three financial years.

o the 10 Year Financial Plan assumed projections in employee costs of 2.75 per cent per annum up to 2018/19, increasing to 3.75 per cent from 2019/20. The SRP assumes 2.5 per cent per annum increases throughout the forward years.


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o the 10 Year Financial Plan projected borrowing $27 million for capital investment on community infrastructure and open space within the Fishermans Bend precinct in 2016/17 ultimately funded from Developer Contribution Plan revenue and net rates uplift. The draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 has been updated:

• to reflect that Council, in partnership with the State Government, acquired land for future public open space use at Buckhurst Street for $19 million in 2015/16, with Council’s contribution being $6.3 million and funded from open space reserves.

• to reflect future investment in the Fishermans Bend Education and Community Precinct project with funding from the Public Open Space reserve and through internal borrowings from current general reserves.

• to incorporate additional capital expenditure of $9 million over 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 as Council’s contribution to unspecified projects related to the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area.

• provision has been made in the forward financial forecasts for parking revenue losses associated with the Melbourne Metro, and financial risks associated with the Enterprise Agreement and utility costs.

3.24 The 10-Year Financial Plan quantified the cumulative rates cap challenge over the period of 2016/17 to 2019/20 at $8.5 million. The combined impact of a balanced Budget for 2016/17, which includes $7 million of efficiency savings generated over the last three years, a small surplus of $0.9 million to offset part of the rates gap challenge in 2017/18, and changes in assumptions, is to reduce the rates cap challenge over the same period to $6.7 million.

Rates cap consistent with CPI less an efficiency factor

2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Annual rates cap challenge - $2.8m $3.9m

Cumulative rates cap challenge - $2.8m $6.7m

3.25 To date Council has been able to manage the rates capping challenge through the identification of further efficiency savings and its disciplined budget preparation process. However, over the medium-term Council will be required to fundamentally review the sustainability of its operations and service models.


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3.26 To meet this challenge and close the rates gap over the remaining three years of the Strategic Resource Plan, Council has incorporated a realistic efficiency savings target into the published plan of:

o $1.5 million in 2017/18

o $2.0 million in 2018/19 and

o $3.2 million in 2019/20.

3.27 The efficiency savings target in each year will be achieved by identifying:

o opportunities to further reduce Council’s cost base without impacting service levels (such as efficiencies identified through improvements in processes, procurement and project planning and delivery)

o opportunities to ensure that user fees and charges reflect the benefit that individual community members receive (that is, rates funding is not unreasonably subsidising services that provide private benefit)

o service delivery options, including fundamental changes to the way services are currently delivered and consideration of service level reductions in areas of lower strategic priority.


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FURTHER SUPPORTING INFORMATION

ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL PLAN AND COUNCIL POLICY 4.

4.1 This report represents the review of the Council’s four year Council Plan.

4.2 The Council Plan 2013-2017 has been central to Council’s thinking and prioritisation of funding options in the development of the draft Budget 2016/17. The budgeted project portfolio is designed to strategically deliver on the four focus areas set out in the Council Plan – engaged, healthy, resilient and vibrant.

CONSULTATION AND STAKEHOLDERS 5.

5.1 Each year, the City of Port Phillip prepares an annual budget and reviews its Council Plan. Getting feedback from our community is a vital part of this process as it helps to inform the preparation of the draft Council Plan and Budget 2016/17.

5.2 For this year’s engagement process, the objectives were to educate the community about the high-level implications of rates capping and to get earlier input and feedback prior to development of the draft budget. Following Councillor feedback on the engagement plan, officers tested the planned approach with a smaller forum of community stakeholders on 16 November 2015. The feedback from the forum was really valuable, particularly around how we communicate the challenge of rate capping. As a result, it was decided to defer the planned pre-Christmas engagement so that we could adjust the communications approach.

5.3 A big change in this year’s approach was the use of service information into eight groupings to help inform the community of the different types of services Council provides using the following methods:

o a direct mail item to all CoPP households, demonstrating the range of services Council delivers and advertising the pop-up sessions and online consultation

o service information on what and why we provide services, how much it costs, how it is funded, key projects and performance measures

o a survey asking specific questions. These include ranking our service groupings from 1 to 8, asking people their level of support on potential ways Council could respond to the rates challenge and providing specific examples of budgeting priorities in the future

o engaging with our key stakeholder community groups and hard-to-reach community groups

o an information sheet on rates capping.

5.4 Pop-up consultation sessions have been a key activity for the Council Plan and Budget engagement program. In previous years these sessions have been delivered and staffed by Council officers, and the focus has been on providing opportunities for the community to provide feedback on Council Plan priorities or to discuss local issues.


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5.5 The focus of this year’s engagement was on sharing key information with the community on Council’s many services and programs, and the challenges that rates capping and population growth (particularly in Fishermans Bend) present. It was recognised that to ensure informed targeted feedback at these sessions, skilled facilitators to assist these conversations were critical, and so external facilitation specialists, The Space Agency, were engaged to deliver these sessions on behalf of the City of Port Phillip. The pop-up sessions were also attended by Councillors and Council officers as direct Council points of contact, to discuss and address specific local or individual issues.

5.6 Included in Attachment 5 is the summary of this year’s engagement and feedback received during the consultation period from 6 February to 7 March 2016.

5.7 There are a number of successes associated with this year’s engagement:

o Approximately 600 people joined the conversation and we received over 700 feedback contributions throughout the engagement period. This represents a significant increase in participation in the development of the budget compared to previous years and is reflective of the multi-pronged engagement approach undertaken.

o Additionally, Have Your Say received 1,350 visits and 95 ideas or suggestions were posted online for others to read and show support for via a ‘vote’, resulting in a total of 541 contributions to this site.

o Of the feedback contributed, 390 were via the feedback form, which also captured basic demographic information. Whilst this sample is not representative, it does provide a snapshot of community sentiment around key challenges and how we may address them.

o Council’s approach to engaging the community also received support from the Minister for Local Government, the Honourable Natalie Hutchins who tweeted “Great work by @cityportphillip, talking to their community about how to keep rates affordable + deliver services…”

Demographic snapshot

5.8 Most feedback from respondents were Port Phillip residents (84.6%), with the remainder commonly working in (17%) or visiting (10%) Port Phillip. Local business owners or operators represented 8.5% of the respondents

5.9 The most commonly selected household type was ‘single’ (29%), followed closely by ‘Couple with no children’ (28.5%). Approximately one quarter of respondents (23.7%) reported living in a household with children of high school age or below. St Kilda was the most popular residential postcode for respondents (24.6%), followed by Port Melbourne (21.3%).

5.10 The majority of survey respondents were between 35-69 years old, with only one sixth of respondents below the age of 35 (15.9%). A separate pop-up consultation session targeted towards young people was held at the St Kilda Festival to address this engagement gap.

https://twitter.com/cityportphillip


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Service rankings

5.11 Respondents ranked community safety and amenity as the most important service grouping, followed by public space and city planning, design and compliance respectively.

5.12 Some variation of priority within these service groups was noted. Generally speaking, for residents public space was a priority, community safety and amenity was a priority for visitors, and workers indicated sustainable environment and transport as a priority.

5.13 While there is a significant increase in the number of survey responses and there is feedback across a range of demographics, the results cannot be viewed as being representative of the community as participants were not selected via a random, stratified sample, as is the case with the Community Satisfaction Survey.

5.14 Examples of this are:

o While Community Safety and Amenity was considered the highest priority in the Council Plan and Budget survey, this differs slightly from the Community Satisfaction Survey where safety and security does not have as high an impact on our performance

o While Governance and Engagement was considered the lowest priority in the Council Plan and Budget survey, this differs from the Community Satisfaction Survey where engagement is seen as an area for improvement and has a high impact on our performance

Addressing the funding gap

5.15 All four options presented were generally supported by respondents. However, there was a clear preference to ‘tighten service provision, focusing on those that deliver the best value and support the people most in need of assistance’ (78.5% strongly support / support).

5.16 In contrast, the least popular option was to ‘borrow funds to invest in new or improved assets.’

5.17 Respondents were also asked to provide feedback on other ideas they might have about addressing funding gaps. Increasing user charges and sourcing other revenue streams were popular suggestions for increasing revenue, whilst improved efficiencies, less spending on festivals and reducing staff associated costs were suggested as options for decreasing expenditure.

Longer term initiatives

5.18 The most common issue for respondents in the longer term was around:

o the provision and maintenance of public spaces (15%), with a focus on the foreshore and cleanliness of our public streets and public spaces

o the need to plan for impacts of climate change and pursue opportunities for energy efficiency and alternative energy sources (11%)

o development, planning and density was the third-most common issue identified by respondents (9%), with concerns around impacts of increasing housing density.


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How the community feedback has informed this Budget

5.19 While this is not a statistically representative sample of the overall Port Phillip community, every effort was made to gather feedback from across a broad spectrum of our community, and to ensure as balanced a sample as possible across the demographic range.

5.20 The themes drawn from these responses provide Council with an emerging picture of community sentiment around the key challenges posed through the questions. By cross-referencing these themes with demographic information such as age group, postcode and household composition, a clearer picture is formed of whom in our community may be most impacted by policy or funding changes in these areas. This information plays a vital role in checking in with the community on actions for the final year of the Council Plan 2013-17. It also provides the opportunity to consider and test these emerging themes in the development of the draft Budget 2016/17, which will be released for community comment in late April 2016.

5.21 The community feedback received in reducing expenditure is consistent with the approach to developing the draft Budget for 2016/17:

o there is endorsement of Council’s commitment to generating efficiency savings as one of the responses to dealing with financial capacity issues. Two million dollars of permanent efficiency savings have been identified in this budget. This is in addition to $5 million of savings made in the previous two budgets.

o there is constraint in growth in FTEs & wages. FTE growth is planned to increase by 4.5 which is less than in previous years and less than what was projected in the Strategic Resource Plan

o focus of FTE growth is in areas of higher priority as identified through the survey to deal with pressure on Council’s frontline services including city permits, amenity, planning and building due to population and high density development over the recent years

o there has been considerable effort in containing festival costs and improving value for festivals recognising there is a large expenditure impact on the budget.

LEGAL AND RISK IMPLICATIONS 6.

6.1 Under the Local Government Act 1989, Council is required to undertake a review of the Council Plan at least once in the financial year. Following its review, Council must release the proposed adjustments for a 28-day public review period and call for public submissions. Release of the draft Council Plan 2013-17 (Year 4) as recommended will meet this legislative requirement.

6.2 Council has a legislative obligation under the Local Government Act 1989 to adopt an annual budget by 30 June each year. To meet this legislative requirement, Council needs to release the draft documents and pass a resolution to advertise the draft documents at this meeting. Failure to do so increases Council’s risk of being in breach of the legislation.


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6.3 The draft Budget 2016/17 and draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 have been prepared in accordance with regulations laid down by the Local Government Amendment (Performance Reporting and Accountability Act 2014).

SUSTAINABILITY – Triple Bottom Line 7.

7.1 The proposed adjustments to the draft Council Plan and Strategic Resource Plan are consistent with triple bottom line sustainability considerations. Any resource implications of proposed adjustments to the draft Council Plan have been represented in the draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20 and draft Budget 2016/17.

7.2 The draft Budget 2016/17, which funds a $45 million project portfolio and maintains existing service levels, proposes a 2.5 per cent rate increase in line with the State Government’s rate cap.

7.3 This has been achieved through a continued strong focus on prudent, financial management, careful prioritisation and a commitment to productivity and efficiency ($7 million in savings have been identified over the last three budgets).

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

7.4 Council has allocated around $5 million (including Council resources) in the draft Budget 2016/17 to support a number of sustainability initiatives related to improving transport options, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste, improving water quality through urban design and advocacy. These initiatives include:

o Walk and Bike Plans– improving bike riding and walking infrastructure and networks across Port Phillip while continuing to motivate more people to ride more often and to more places, reducing congestion and improving health ($1 million)

o Towards Zero – reducing emissions and energy costs through installing solar panels on Council buildings, and other energy efficiency retrofit works ($562,000)

o Water Sensitive Urban Design initiatives– designing and delivering new rain gardens and to maintain best-practice urban water sensitive design across Council’s public space assets ($400,000)

o Eco Centre - funding improvements to the existing site and exploration of minor redevelopment of other Council building assets to accommodate both the EcoCentre and other activities and develop options for the long-term future ($300,000)

o Integrated Transport Strategy – deliver an integrated transport strategy to guide future actions and investment ($250,000)

o Program support for Eco Centre under an existing funding deed ($160,000)

o Community and school travel programs - focusing on improving travel choices, particularly walking and bike riding. This includes school travel planning and initiatives such as SheSpoke ($65,000)


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o Conducting walking and bike riding indicator counts including Super Tuesday bike counts in March and local bike and pedestrian counts in March and October ($45,000)

o EcoCentre Education Programs to continue to deliver leadership programs for students in schools, a network for environmental educators, and practical experiences to connect students to their local environment and indigenous elders ($40,000)

o Toward Zero Community Action Plan – developing and implementing a Plan to address the community targets in the Toward Zero strategy ($40,000)

o Early Years Sustainability Leadership program to educate, provide advice support to our early years services to support both sustainable practices with these services and outreach to the community ($30,000)

o Community Carbon Cops Solar and Energy Efficiency Leadership to educate and empower community members to assist with retrofitting Council owned community buildings and reduce environmental impact in their own homes ($30,000)

o Toward Zero Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy – developing a strategy to deliver Councils waste targets and operational requirements for waste management ($25,000)

o Council also works with the Victorian Government to improve safety and connectivity for bike riders on the arterial road network. A key initiative for Council is seeking the installation of protected bike lanes along St Kilda Road, between Linlithgow Avenue and Carlisle Street by the State Government.

SOCIAL & CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS

Support for the Arts

7.5 Council has allocated over $1.2 million in the draft Budget 2016/17 in overall funding for the Arts including financial support for: o Gasworks Arts Park ($587,000)

o Linden Gallery ($295,000) o Cultural Development Fund ($137,000) o Local Festivals Fund ($135,000) o Pride March ($50,000) o Emerald Hill Arts Program (previously Emerald Hill Festival) ($40,000).

This excludes the significant value associated with housing several arts organisations in the municipality.

7.6 For 2016/17, Council is proposing to provide additional support to the following: o Multicultural Arts Victoria - Crossing Worlds ($30,000) o Red Stitch INK and Graduate Programs ($30,000) o Theatre Works ($30,000) o National Theatre Melbourne 80th anniversary ($16,000).


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7.7 The above funding is for 2016/17 only as Council will be considering the implementation in 2016/17 of a number of recommendations that has come out of the recent Arts Services Review, which considered the relevance and performance of services such as cultural facilities, arts programs, grants, collection management and opportunities for improvement.

Support for Affordable Housing

7.8 A key action in the City of Port Phillip’s Council Plan is to support the delivery of affordable housing to meet community needs. On 12 April 2016, Council adopted In Our Backyard – Growing Affordable Housing in Port Phillip (2015-25) which is a strategy detailing the specific actions that Council will undertake to support the delivery of new affordable housing in the City of Port Phillip. This includes a commitment to provide a ‘pipeline’ of property contributions and supporting cash contributions ($500,000 per annum for 10 years) to facilitate new community housing projects.

7.9 The draft Budget 2016/17 includes $550,000 to support Affordable Housing which:

o reflects Council’s commitment for an annual allocation of $500,000 cash, as part of its 10 year strategy.

o includes $50,000 to progress implementation of In Our Backyard, including progressing an Expression of Interest process that will ensure the allocation of property assets and cash that deliver the greatest benefit back to the Port Phillip community.

Rates assistance

7.10 The draft Budget 2016/17 recognises the impact that municipal rates have on financially disadvantaged sections of the community and proposes a further increase in the Council sponsored pensioner rate rebate from $152 to $156.

o the cost of this measure is projected to be $478,000, an increase of $13,000 on the current cost

o the Port Phillip City Council is one of a few Councils that offer a supplementary pensioner rate rebate to eligible pensioners (who receive a Government pension)

7.11 In addition, there is the universal option to all self-funded retirees to defer their rates indefinitely at an interest rate of 4.75% p.a. (half the official penalty interest rate set by the State Government)

7.12 Other assistance packages include:

o providing a 50 per cent waiver of the general rate for housing accommodation that provides reduced rentals to elderly persons of limited means

o freezing animal management fees for pensioners at 2014/15 levels

o support for residents and ratepayers experiencing hardship through rate deferments and payment arrangements.


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IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY 8.

TIMELINE

8.1 In order to reduce the risk of non-compliance with legislative requirements under the Local Government Act, Council must:

o release the revised Council Plan 2013-17, including Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20, and Budget 2016/17 at a Council meeting and

o pass a resolution to advertise the revised Council Plan 2013-17 and Budget 2016/17 and provide other information as required by the Local Government Amendment (Performance Reporting and Accountability) Act 2014 and Regulations

8.2 Assuming the documents are released and a resolution passed at this meeting:

Date Event

Between Thursday 28 April and Thursday 26 May 2016

The draft Council Plan 2013-17 (Year 4) and draft Budget 2016/17 will be available for public review and submissions invited

Thursday 26 May 2016 Submissions on the proposed adjustments to the Council Plan and draft Budget will close

Tuesday 7 June 2016 Submissions will be received and heard by Council at a Special Council Meeting

Tuesday 28 June 2016 The revised Council Plan 2013-17, including the Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20, and the Budget 2016/17 are scheduled to be adopted at the Council Meeting

Before 26 July 2016 Council will notify the Minister of Local Government of the adjustments made to the Council Plan 2013-17 following the annual review and provide a copy of the adopted Budget 2016/17

8.3 COMMUNICATION

o During the public review period, copies of the draft Council Plan 2013-17 (Year 4), including the draft Strategic Resource Plan 2016-20, and the draft 2016/17 Budget will be made available online and at Council offices and libraries

o Information in support of the documents will be made available online


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Key Messages

o The draft Council Plan 2013-17 continues Council’s vision for an engaged, healthy, resilient and vibrant city.

o Council invites members of the public to submit comments during the public review period (Thursday 28 April to Thursday 26 May 2016) on:

• how the proposed adjustments to the Council Plan address community priorities and needs.

• how the draft Budget 2016/17 will deliver on the priorities outlined in the Council Plan.

OFFICER DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTEREST 9.

9.1 No officers involved in the preparation of this report have any direct or indirect interest in the matter.

agenda of ordinary meeting of council - 26 april 2016 › report_1_draft_council_plan.pdf ·...

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