Our Community Our Future is a Strathbogie Shire Council initiative inviting community members to share their ideas and priorities to help shape key strategic plans, including the Community Vision, Council Plan, Financial Plan, Asset Plan, and Budget.

The Local Government Act Victoria 2020 requires Council to undertake deliberative engagement to ensure community values and aspirations guide the development of its strategic plans. This process ensures Council’s priorities reflect the needs and expectations of the community.

All community members are encouraged to participate, as the feedback received will help shape the future of Strathbogie Shire Council.

We all want to live in a flourishing region. However, we all have different ideas on what makes it great and how we need to focus our work to get there. You input is essential in guiding Council efforts This is your chance to ensure we are delivering the things that truly matter to you and reinforce the pride we all feel in our community.

A statement that is developed in consultation with community that captures what community members most value about Strathbogie Shire and the shared vision of their community’s desired future. Four years ago we worked with the community to develop a “Community Vision”. We’d now like to check in with our community to see if this vision is still on-track.

This plan guides all of Council’s work and decision-making. It ensures that Council’s work aligns with community aspirations and is focused on the same outcomes. The plan also helps Council track its performance and meet the legislative requirements set out in the Local Government Act 2020.

This plan provides guidance for Council’s long term financial decision making to ensure the future needs of the growing community can be met. This comprehensive framework underpins the affordability, funding and delivery of a number of major projects that are important to community and outlined in their vision.

This plan outlines the importance of the infrastructure assets for which Council is the custodian. The plan informs community on how Council infrastructure and other assets are to be managed to achieve objectives listed in the Council Plan and Community Vision.

A Revenue and Rating Plan is the policy by which council systematically considers factors of importance that informs its decisions about how Council raises revenue, including by the rating system Council uses. The rating system determines how Council will raise money from properties within the municipality. It does not influence the total amount to be raised, only the share of revenue contributed by each property.

In accordance with section 94 of the Local Government Act 2020, a council must prepare and adopt a budget for each financial year and the subsequent 3 financial years.

Council must ensure the budget contains financial statements and other information including capital works, human resources and grants. The budget must contain the amount which the council intends to raise by general rates, municipal charges, service rates and service charges and whether general rates will be raised by the application of a uniform rate, differential rate or limited differential rate.

The budget must include a description of services, major initiatives and initiatives to be funded for the financial year and how they will contribute to achieving the strategic objectives as specified in the Council Plan.

For the services to be funded in the budget, the budget must also include the prescribed indicators of service performance that must be reported against in the performance statement and the prescribed measures relating to those indicators.

The budget is a statutory requirement, and council must be adopted by 30 June each year.