A $3 million rail trail for cyclists to ride from Beechworth to Osbornes Flat could be the shining light of Indigo Council’s 2017/18 budget – as long as Victorian government funding comes through.
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The council is hopeful of receiving $2.7 million of a statewide $28 million regional cycle tourism project in the next financial year. The remaining $250,000 would be funded by ratepayers.
The project formed part of an $8.22 million capital works program in the draft budget released this week, slightly up from the $7.93 million spent in 2016/17.
Mayor Jenny O’Connor said a series of upgrades for Chiltern were dependent on a $975,000 funding application to the federal government’s building better regions fund.
“A significant project for council is the Chiltern Placemaking Project, for which council has committed funding in 2016-17 for the key components – town centre activation, connectivity from the main town entrance to key precincts in the town, a children's hub and industrial land,” she said. “Being a small council, we are heavily reliant on grant funding to fully achieve projects of this sort and an ongoing challenge for us is to find matching council funding.”
The draft budget included a 2 per cent rates increase, in line with the state government cap, and maintained a cash deficit of $146,000.
“In the coming years of this term, we may have to face some harsh realities with service cuts or a request to the state government for a rate cap variation,” Cr O’Connor said.
“But for this coming financial year, I believe we have managed to balance all interests as well as we can, given the financially stringent times we find ourselves in.”