Mount Alexander Shire Council’s Mayor, Councillor Matthew Driscoll, said the proposed budget was developed in consultation with the community.

“We have an engaged and knowledgeable community in Mount Alexander Shire,” said Mayor Driscoll, “and their ideas and input are incredibly valuable when putting together the proposed budget.

“Community consultation is a big part of the budget process, and when we allocate funding our decisions are informed by what our community has told us". These include:

• Roads, recreation, parks and gardens, and arts and culture were highlighted as important focus areas
• The preservation of our shire’s rich building heritage and protecting our natural environment
• Restoration of the former Wesleyan Church in Chewton.
• Progressing our work on affordable housing solutions
• Supporting progression of the Castlemaine-Maryborough Rail Trail
• Contributing to the Castlemaine Art Museum.

Read more.

We kicked off engagement for the 2024-2025 draft budget at Council's first ever open day on Monday 23 October 2023.

Nearly 30 people took part in the "Spend your rates" face to face activity. Participants were provided $50 in fake money to represent their rates. They then "spent" their rates by placing money on service area headings of their choice.

Nearly $1400 fake money was spent by participants on service areas in the following order (where 1 = the most money spent and 9 = the least money spent)

1. Arts, culture and the Library
2. Roads, footpaths and drainage
3. Aged, disability and family services
4. Community and economic development
5. Environment and health
6. Parks and gardens
7. Planning, building and local laws
8. Waste
9. Halls and community venues.

You can learn more about what each service area category contains on the spend your rates page.

We repeated the activity again from October - December 2023, this time online through Shape Mount Alexander.

Nearly 60 people took part in the digital activity. Participants were provided $50 in fake money to represent their rates. They then "spent" their rates by placing money on service area headings of their choice.

Nearly $2900 fake money was spent by participants on service areas in the following order:

You can learn more about what each service area category contains on the spend your rates page.

We also received nearly 30 written submissions.