Capital works and a rate increase on the forefront for the proposed Launceston budget

City of Launceston's 2022/23 draft annual budget will soon be out for public consultation after motion for public feedback is passed on Thursday, April 21 council meeting.

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Councillors will vote on sending the proposed budget out to the community for a two-week public consultation period.

A capital works program totalling more than $18.2 million is a significant element of the budget. Another is the proposed 3.75 per cent rate increase.

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Capital projects proposed in the budget include $800,000 to upgrade the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery's popular children's activity centre, the Phenomena Factory, $8.5 million for road, footpath and trail upgrades, $1.3m for parks and playground upgrades, and $1.5 m for new traffic signals at the junction of Invermay Rd and Lindsay Street.

Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten said the proposed general rate increase of 3.75 per cent was well below the annual Hobart CPI to December 2021 of 4.5 per cent, and that the Council had budgeted for an underlying deficit of $3.0 million for 2022/23.

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Cr van Zetten said work would begin shortly on revising the Council's Long Term Financial Plan, with a view to returning to a small underlying surplus in the medium term.

"The proposed budget is predicated on the fact we are still in economic recovery mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," Cr van Zetten said.

"As a local government authority, it's important that we always seek to balance the challenges faced by our community with the need to maintain the wide array of services and facilities our community relies on.

"With a proposed rate increase below CPI, and a significant capital works program aimed at maintaining and upgrading existing assets, the council has attempted to strike this balance.

"I look forward to the discussion around the table next week as we progress towards setting the City of Launceston's budget for the 2022/23 financial year."

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