Western Port
Western
Port
realestate 12 April 2016
Your guide to what’s on this weekend for peninsula families
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FRENCH Island Community Association members Carolyn Henwood and Alison Pitt examine a map of the island with threatened species commissioner Greg Andrews when he was over there to help devise ways to rid the island of feral cats. “Plans to end reign of feral cats� Page 5
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Budget’s spread of rates ‘fair’
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has dropped the municipal charge in favour of a waste service charge which it says will ensure a “fairer redistribution of the rate burdenâ€?. The mayor Cr Graham Pittock said the $193 a property waste charge would raise $19 million, an amount that “fully recovers the cost of collection and disposal of refuseâ€?. The municipal charge for 2014/15 was $180. The proposed budget released for public comment last week includes raising an extra $5.269m from rates, for a total of $155.344m. The proposed general rate is .22670 cents in the dollar of a property’s capital improved value (CIV). This is a 1.8 per cent increase over last year. The rate for vacant commercial and industrial land is to rise by 18.7 per cent to .31738 cents in the dollar of CIV. The shire’s total 2016/17 income is put at just over $214m. The budget also shows shire staffing costs will rise by $3.067m to $70.094m – about 30 per cent of total expenditure. Cr Pittock said the budget would have a $38.1m operating surplus, “more than $2.5 million over the amount from the previous year, which will go towards delivering more capital works and reducing accumulated debtâ€?. The budget papers show spending on capital works will drop by $14.166m to $32.659m. "This is an extremely positive result in light of the challenging economic environment, including the new Fair Go Rates System's 2.5 per cent rate capping limit; enterprise bargaining agreement increases of 3.3 per cent and significant increases in key long-term outsourcing service contracts not tied to the consumer price index," Cr Pittock said. He said the “positive resultâ€? added to the shire's Clean Up and Green Up initiatives as well as its “unwavering moveâ€? to be carbon neutral within five years. Cr Pittock listed budget “highlightsâ€? as being: ď Ž Ongoing delivery of services. ď Ž Capital works of $32.7m, includes more than $10m on roads; $3.5m on footpaths and “cyclewaysâ€?; $3.6m on drainage; and $3.4m on parks, open spaces and streetscapes. ď Ž Paying down the shire's debt in record time and at record levels. Continued Page 11
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