Projects to swell Moyne's coffers

The Moyne Gazette, Page: 4
Thursday, 29 June 2006

MOYNE Shire's spending power would be greatly boosted by the proposed gas-fired power station at Mortlake and a wind farm at Macarthur. Moyne Shire chief executive officer Graham Shiell said the shire's two existing wind farms contributed about $127,000 a year in rates. Mr Shiell said the two proposed projects would have an ''enormous boost to our rate revenue. ''He said the extra revenue could help reduce the council's asset renewal gap.

Mr Shiell said the shire had forecast a rate increase of under six per cent over the next four years. However, the rate of increase may have to be reviewed to decrease the asset renewal gap further. Moyne Shire Mayor Gerald Madden said the council relied heavily on grant funding, which accounted for 38 per cent of its revenue. ''Council makes it a priority to source as much grant funding as possible and our success in this area can be seen when comparing Moyne to shires of approximately the same size, '' Cr Madden said.

''Moyne Shire receives a significant level of support from government thanks to the hard work of its staff, and this means we are able to keep rates as low as we can without compromising the delivery or quality of services. ''.