Shire of Plantagenet adopts 2024-25 budget with 4.5 per cent rate rise

Residents in the Shire of Plantagenet can expect a rate rise following the adoption of its annual budget last Tuesday. The council adopted its 2024-25 budget at a special council meeting on August 6, detailing a 4.5 per cent rate increase. Less than last year’s five per cent rates increase, shire president Len Handasyde said the budget was calculated with respect to the cost-of-living crisis and a three per cent population growth. “The Shire of Plantagenet has adopted a modest budget — the rate increase is 4.5 per cent and the council has considered the impacts on the local community very carefully,” he said. “It is always a balancing act to get it right in order to continue to provide community services at a reasonable cost with all the additional requirements of today’s world increasing costs. “The main projects are the Trails Project on Mt Barker Hill, the swimming pool works, the planning around the Housing Strategy and the Youth Park development at Wilson Park.” The president received a $2203 raise in his allowance and meeting attendance fees in his first term on the job, while the deputy president, who entered the position in June, had his allowance and meeting fees increased by $905. The remaining seven councillors had their meeting attendance fees boosted by $579 to $15,054. Cr Handasyde said the new figures sit at the 85 per cent level of the relevant allowance bracket and serve as an incentive for new candidates to become councillors. Big items in the 2024-25 budget include the $3.75m redevelopment of the Mount Barker Memorial Swimming Pool, construction of two new bush fire brigade sheds and fire units at Rocky Gully and Woogenellup for $2.35m, the Pwakkenbak Trails project ($366,346), and the $150,000 development of Wilson Park. Other projects include the $3m road construction program, $1.17m for the plant replacement program, $40,000 for the Empowering Plantagenet Seniors kitchen upgrade, $50,000 for upgrades to the waste facility and the installation of two electric vehicle charger stations.