BEFORE the 2025-26 to 28-29 corporate business plan, the 2025-26 annual budget and the 2025-26 schedule of fees and charges were adopted at the July meeting deputy mayor and South ward councillor James Rowe and South West ward councillor Natalie Herridge were the mover and seconder respectively of a two-part amendment.
Part one was a request for professional development for elected members with the deputy mayor saying the core duties prescribed to elected members under the Local Government Act were to adopt the budget and the long-term financial strategic vision of the organisation to develop the strategic policy and to recruit and manage the performance of the chief executive officer.
“So therefore I feel professional development afforded to elected members should be closely aligned to the duties that we are expected to undertake as prescribed by the legislation,’’ he said.
The second part of the amendment referred to administration providing financial information to the audit and risk committee so the committee and the council could maintain oversight in the interests of good governance and financial management.
After this amendment was passed unanimously but before the substantive motion on the budget was put to the vote Cr Rowe asked a series of questions including relating to the city’s long term financial plan (LTFP).
Cr Rowe said the city’s integrated planning and reporting framework included the LTFP.
“It has been 959 days since the LTFP was brought to council for consideration and endorsement – that’s more than two years and seven months,’’ he said.
“Can council receive an update on when the LTFP will be presented for endorsement?’’
Wanneroo chief executive officer Bill Parker said as all councillors were aware he had recently undergone his performance review.
“One of those KPIs was reset and recast for December 2025, which is the LTFP,’’ he said.
“As soon as this budget’s adopted, then all of our available resources are focused on the LTFP.
“Council has a session coming up in August and I think I saw today we’re planning for another one in a couple of months’ time with elected members in terms of the detail around the LTFP.’’
Cr Rowe then asked for his question to be recorded in full in the minutes and then wanted to know in the absence of a council endorsement of the LTFP, how had the administration been making changes to the forward year capital works program and projections.
Corporate strategy and performance director Noelene Jennings said while the city did not have an adopted long-term financial plan, the councillors had been provided with the 20-year capital works program during their long-term financial plan workshops, but also their budget workshops in particular for this year.
Then Cr Rowe asked if administration was aware of any situation where a capital works project had been deferred without the council’s knowledge because of the almost three-year delay in endorsing an LTFP?
Ms Jennings said it had been through workshops, so she couldn’t think of one that had been deferred.
Cr Rowe then referred to the operating budget on page 13 of the supplementary agenda. “Employee costs have increased by $4.7m or 4.9 per cent,’’ he said.
“Can I ask how many new FTE positions this is creating and (what) proportion of this increase is due to the results of the enterprise bargaining agreement,’’ Cr Rowe asked.
Ms Jennings said it was about 19 new positions with about $1.3m put aside for the increases.
Referring to page 17 of the supplementary agenda Cr Rowe said the total capital works program for 25-26 was projected at $137.6m almost double the $70.2m that was proposed in last year’s budget.
He said last year the council was told the reason it was $70.2m scaled back was to balance community needs with the city’s financial and resourcing capacity.
“What capacity improvements have occurred in the past 12 months to provide assurance that the city can now deliver an additional $67.4m over what was originally proposed last year?
In response Assets director Harminder Singh said from a capacity and capability point of view the city had invested in its project management delivery capacity, project management pre pre-planning and development capacity as well.
“Noting that in the 25-26 capital works program the largest expenditure is for the under-construction Alkimos aquatic and recreation centre which is (listed at) about $48m in the budget,’’ he said.
“If you take that out the rest is about $90m, when you look at further into the detail capital works program there is about $28-$29m worth of significant larger projects which are not usually in every year’s budget so that brings it back to about $70m of our usual capital works program.’’
Cr Rowe then wanted confirmation on whether the reserves drawdown and capital works program included $1m for the Girrawheen hub redevelopment – a project anticipated to cost about $30m and no money for the Wanneroo recreation centre redevelopment.
“So if those projects are required to commence in the next 12 months and subject to grant applications, the city may be required to draw down much more significantly on its reserves,’’ he asked.
Ms Jennings said for this financial year the Girrawheen hub budget was $1m from she thought the asset replacement reserve and the Wanneroo recreation centre was budgeted for
$1.35m this year – with some of that from grant and some from municipal but they were scheduled to have a lot more in their future years which was relying on grant(s) at this stage.
Cr Herridge said while they were discussing reserves she noticed on page 10 where the reserve replenishments were listed they were putting $46m in to help recover up for the $71m that they were taking out.
“Is this year’s budgeted rate of the drawdown on par with last year’s and possibly the years past just to see if we’re consistent and correct me if I’m wrong of the $46m that we’re putting back in, there’s only $28.5m that’s actually interest that we’re putting in that isn’t of its own money so coming through DCPs and those kinds of things,’’ she asked.
“So, I just want to make sure that we’re on par with what we’re doing with our reserves
in the last few years and just to confirm that amount.’’
Ms Jennings said the drawdown was a bit more than it had been in previous years and she asked another member of the finance team to look up what it was for the previous financial year.
“But in terms of the reserve replenishment (with the) Catalina (regional council dividend) there’s quite a level of confidence in that amount coming through,’’ she said.
“So I think that will be fine and the interest we know about and the developer contributions is already in that reserve and that’s to do with (Alkimos) and the others are also things that we actually manage ourselves.’’
A team member responded that the total drawdown in the past financial year was estimated to be $62m in total with the current proposed budget $71m.
At the end of the questions Wanneroo Mayor Linda Aitken reminded councillors she believed the budget represented a strong balanced approach to delivering essential services and investing in the city’s future.
The budget passed 11-2 with Cr Rowe and Cr Herridge voting against it.
At the start of his questions Cr Rowe said he had pursued the matters operationally and had not been successful.
“So therefore, I felt that now was the opportune moment and if it wasn’t this evening it would have been done through a standalone motion on notice – so one way or another it was coming as a motion to council,’’ he said.
Wanneroo sets 2025-26 rates and takes on big capital works program reported ratepayers will pay overall a 3.5 per cent increase in rates in 2025-26, which is above the estimated consumer price index forecast of 2.74 per cent.
Residential, rural and mining rates categories will increase by an average of 3 per cent whereas commercial-industrial rates categories will increase by 5.5 per cent.
