By Marcus Uhe
The City of Casey will likely have to draw “alternative funding and partnership arrangements” to ease financial pressure, in order to keep up with new infrastructure requirements as outlined in the council’s Asset Plan 2022-32.
The council currently owns and manages $3.5 billion worth of infrastructure assets, divided into three categories – Buildings and Facilities (such as community hubs and facilities), Civil Infrastructure (roads, kerbs, carparks) and Open Space and Recreation (sports grounds and equipment, fencing, trees and vegetation).
With an expected population of increase of approximately 160,000 by 2041, the Asset Plan indicates that the council’s physical infrastructure asset value will grow by approximately five per cent per annum to more than $5 billion in the next 10 years.
On Tuesday 21 June’s council meeting, Administrator Cameron Boardman attributed the need to leverage alternative funding to a number of challenges, such as rate capping, technology improvements and the changing uses of infrastructure.
He said having a renewal gap of five per cent against a rate cap of 1.75 per cent “doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a degree of economic and financial sensibility”.
“We’re operating in a rate cap environment which is a legislative issue that the State Government imposes on us, but that does not take into consideration what is obviously inflationary pressures, change in service and contracts and capital, financial arrangements by virtue of cost increases and the labor shortages, which are confronting many sectors in our stakeholder environment,” Mr Boardman said.
“There are going to have to be other ways of looking at, particularly the capital program, through state grants and other grants, to ensure that there is supplementation and necessary investment in the future and there is going to be undoubtedly a very difficult decision that we are going to have to have as an organisation around service contracts, to maintain the asset renewal program and also the maintenance of existing assets under our current contractual arrangements.
“The money pit’s not going to get any larger, but the challenges are going to undoubtedly increase, and that is a reality.
“While evaluations and assessments of the plan were conducted in 2021, the economy, the economic and fiscal environment has changed dramatically, there will be ongoing and further revision to ensure that we can meet community expectations at every level. “
Civil Infrastructure makes up the overwhelming majority (71 per cent) of assets, followed by Buildings and Facilities (21 per cent) and Open Space (eight per cent).
The Asset Plan was adopted at the council meeting.
To view the agenda for the meeting, which includes the Asset Plan, head to casey.vic.gov.au/access-past-meetings-minutes-agendas
