A council must prepare a budget for each financial year which 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 (goals) 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 adopt and submit a copy of the budget to the Minister by 30 June each year.

The 2019–20 budget is the third budget of this Council and continues the delivery of initiatives as part of a four-year program to deliver council’s 2017–2021 Council Plan.

The 2017–2021 Council Plan (incorporating the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan) is the Council’s key strategic document. It describes the outcomes the Council intends to achieve during its four-year term, how it will achieve these outcomes, the resources required, and how it will measure success. The 2017–2021 Council Plan is a result of an extensive process that included the refresh of the Future Melbourne Community Plan in 2016.

The Council Plan is implemented through the Annual Plan and Budget, which reflects the Council’s decisions on the specific initiatives to be funded each year.

Under the Local Government Act 1989, a Council must consider, at least once in each financial year, whether the current Council Plan requires any adjustment in respect of the remaining period of the Council Plan.

Future Melbourne 2026 was refreshed in 2016 and involved input from several thousand participants in public forums and community events, as well as a citizens’ jury of business owners, employees and residents responsible for producing the Future Melbourne 2026 community vision and goals.

Future Melbourne 2026 is a resource for future councils to use in developing council plans, and as a foundation for the community to work towards common goals. The current Council adopted the Future Melbourne goals with minor amendments to the title of one of the goals.

The budget and revised Council Plan will be endorsed by Council at the Council Meeting on Tuesday 25 June 2019.