2026-27 Annual Budget

Today, we adopt the 2026–27 Budget and Operational Plan, setting the priorities that will guide Council’s resources, investment, services and projects over the next 12 months.

This year's Budget is focused on delivering the essentials our community relies on every day, while continuing to invest in the future of the Lockyer Valley.

Despite ongoing cost pressures across local government, we have maintained our focus on responsible financial management and delivering value for ratepayers.

In a nutshell, the $117.3M Budget includes an operating budget of $85.57M and a capital works program of $31.73M, which will deliver more than 100 projects.

Council remains debt-free and is forecasting an operating surplus of $0.82M – a position many councils would be pleased to be in.

Equally important, this is not a Budget focused only on one town or one area.

We are delivering projects right across the Lockyer Valley, from Withcott in the west to Kensington Grove in the east, and from Preston in the south-west to Lockrose in the north-east.

Despite significant increases in costs outside Council's control, including electricity, insurance, construction and waste charges, we have delivered a below-inflation average rate rise of 4.24 per cent across all categories.

This is lower than many South East Queensland councils.

When combined with levies, this means the average residential owner-occupier will see an increase of about $167 per year, or around $3.20 per week.

Fuelling much of the increase in levies is the State Government’s ‘bin tax’. This Waste Levy has continued to jump each year and at the same time the State Government is reducing the offset, which pushes ever-increasing costs onto councils and their communities.

This has resulted in our Waste Collection and Waste Management Charges increasing by an average of 16.5 per cent to align with the State Government’s Full Cost Pricing model. As a comparison, most of our fees have increased by only 3.5 per cent, in line with the Queensland council cost index.

Despite these challenges, let's look at what this Budget actually delivers for the people of the Lockyer Valley.

This year, we're investing almost $52M in our transport network—roads, bridges, drainage, floodways and footpaths. That's around 44 per cent of the entire Budget dedicated to keeping our communities connected and supporting our local economy.

Roads and essential infrastructure continue to be our largest area of expenditure because we know they’re among the highest priorities for our community.

We are also continuing flood mapping, risk management and disaster preparedness projects across the region to reduce the impact of severe weather events.

Council is progressing key strategic planning projects to ensure we can responsibly manage population growth and provide the infrastructure required by future communities.

We continue to lobby the State and Federal governments for more funding for much-needed projects and initiatives that simply can’t - and shouldn’t - be funded by ratepayers alone.

One of the most significant projects this year is the ongoing planning and design work for the Laidley Flood Mitigation Project. While earthworks are not anticipated this financial year, we are undertaking the critical modelling, design and technical investigations needed to move this critical project forward.

We are also progressing work on the Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Security Scheme, a game-changing piece of infrastructure that will provide real economic benefits for our region and strengthen food security for Queensland and the nation for decades to come.

These are the kinds of projects that will shape the Lockyer Valley not just for the next few years, but for generations to come.

In addition to ‘roads’, we’ve allocated $11.8M towards ‘rubbish’, including kerbside collection, transfer stations, landfill operations, recycling services and further waste management planning requirements.

Beyond infrastructure and essential services, this Budget provides support for the community organisations, sporting groups and events that help make the Lockyer Valley such a great place to live, with almost $0.8M set aside for grants, assistance programs and community events.

We are acutely aware households are doing it tough, and we continue to provide the pensioner rebate and maintain the discount available to ratepayers who pay their rates in full by the due date.

This is a practical Budget that builds on Council’s proud track record of responsible financial management, of consistently operating within our means, and of keeping rate increases low - all the while delivering the services our vibrant community needs to grow and prosper.

Every dollar in this Budget is working towards a stronger, safer and more connected Lockyer Valley!