At Monday’s (12 May) council meeting, Cllr Sam Misho raised a notice of motion asking Hume City Council to publish a detailed breakdown of its budget allocations by suburb, including the proposed 2025/26 budget and forecasts for the following four years.
“This notice seeks to ensure that council continues to maintain transparency and demonstrates its commitment to the fair and equitable distribution of resources,” stated Roxburgh Park Ward Cllr Misho.
“Residents expect a return on the rates they contribute, and as stewards of these funds, it is important we uphold community confidence by illustrating how investment decisions are made across our municipality.”
He acknowledged that while growth suburbs often require significant upfront funding, long-established communities face challenges such as ageing infrastructure and a shortage of public toilets.
“Ratepayer funds are not being evenly distributed,” said Cllr Misho.
Sunbury councillor Kate Hamley (Emu Creek Ward) said: “When you look at equality, that means that everybody gets the same, and when you look at equity it’s the division of resources according to the need, and our budget process tends to look more at the equity sides of things.
“In our growth corridors, yes there’s a lot more pressure for new infrastructure and redevelopment, and in our older areas we have the renewal requirements, and the upgrades and repairs of older infrastructure.
“I don’t think we have a single shopping centre in Emu Creek Ward, so if you looked at it solely on a ward basis I think everyone from my ward basically travels to other wards to do their shopping and access services and various things.
“So while I understand the sentiment of it and appreciate that this could improve transparency, people want to see us being transparent and clear about how our funding is raised and how it’s distributed, and I think that that’s fair.
“But I’d also say to have a little bit of caution that we’re not reinforcing the whole feeling of it’s suburb versus suburb, or ward versus ward, because we are all one city and one Hume.”
Cllr Misho resounded saying he is only asking for a budget breakdown.
Currently, council does not allocate budgets strictly by suburb. Instead, funding decisions are guided by strategic plans, community feedback, asset condition reports, and compliance requirements.
Cllrs Misho’s notice of motion was supported by the majority of councillors. Council staff will start work on producing a report.
