The Delivery Program sets out the work that Council proposes to do in the next four years, to deliver on the community outcomes and goals of the Community Strategic Plan.

The Delivery Program is updated annually and includes:

• background on the community’s long term needs and aspirations
• details of what our 16 key services provide, upcoming projects, and how service performance is measured
• service budgets and financial forecasts for the next four years.

The first year of the Delivery Program is called the Operational Plan and includes the annual budget.

An overview of the 2023/24 budget is shown on page 11 of the Delivery Program, showing the Council’s income sources and how the funds will be spent. Your rates comprise around 57% of Council's income.

The income is used to deliver services as well as maintain our infrastructure assets such as roads, footpaths, buildings, parks, wharves, stormwater systems etc.

The capital budget funds both new infrastructure assets and renewing existing assets, in line with our Asset Management Plan. Each of the 16 key services also set out their income and expenditure for the next four years.

The Budget chapter provides more detail on the consolidated budget for 2023/24. It also projects our financial position for the next four years.

Many of the projects listed in the draft Delivery Program have rolled forward from the 2022-2026 Delivery Program, to address established needs and aspirations of our community, as well as meet the obligations of Council’s role in providing services and maintaining assets. New projects have also been proposed to address community priorities in the Community Strategic Plan.

The program of projects is further shaped by more recent community feedback on a wide range of projects, strategies and action plans – all of which have been developed together with the community, business, non-profit organisations, grant bodies and Government.

All projects for the coming four years are set out under the 16 key services. The projects for 2023/24 are also shown in the 12 local fact sheets, and a map of all capital works.

The Fees and Charges document details how much Council will charge for a range of services in the financial year. These are usually services provided on a user-pays basis, which not all ratepayers will use e.g. hiring halls, childcare, theatre tickets.

Fees and charges are set annually, and generally rise by a modest percentage each year. They form part of the annual budget and comprise around 16% of Council’s income.

The Long-Term Financial Plan sets out how Council will financially resource its commitments in the most sustainable way - such as infrastructure renewal, maintaining services, paying down debt and funding capital projects. As a rolling 10-year plan, it is updated annually to reflect material changes in assumptions, strategies, issues and risks. It sets the stage for the annual budget in the Operational Plan and ensures financial robustness.

Your rates help Council maintain and improve our extraordinary area. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) approves the annual maximum increase local government may raise its rates by. This is like a local government CPI and reflects the increasing cost of providing community services and infrastructure.

Our 2023/24 budget relies on rates income increasing by IPART’s maximum increase of 3.7% to maintain services. The budget is based on maintaining services and facilities important to our community, while accounting for increasing costs. It is a responsible budget with a surplus to rebuild our reserves, providing capacity to respond to any future unpredictable situations such as extreme weather events.

The NSW Valuer General revalues land every three years, the latest being at June 2022. These new land valuations have recently been issued to residents and must be used by Council for assessing all residents’ rates for 2023/24.

The total rates collected by Council isn’t affected by the revaluation. An individual’s property rates may vary depending on how their land valuation has changed, compared to that of other ratepayers across the Northern Beaches.

An online rates calculator is available here on our website to assist you with understanding the estimated impact of your new valuation on your rates for the 2023/24 financial year.

The domestic waste management charge funds waste and recycling services to households. Costs are increasing due to both inflation and increases in the EPA’s Waste Levy.

We’re proposing an increase in the waste charge for our standard service from $505 to $555 in the 2023/24 year. This is made up of $31 from inflation on contracts, $10 for the higher EPA Waste Levy along with $9 to start working on new waste initiatives.

Our community wants to reduce and recycle more waste and the impact it has on the environment. So we’re proposing to invest an extra $9 of your charge to start working on new waste initiatives, including recycling more food waste, and reducing kerbside bulky waste going to landfill.

Every submission received will be considered in the process of finalising the documents on exhibition. We will remove personal and identifying information from submissions before making the content public in the report to Council meeting.

The final documents and engagement report will be presented to Council on Tuesday 27 June 2023.

The report will be in the agenda papers for the meeting, and available online by Thursday 22 June 2023.

View details about Council meetings here.