City of Albany approves 2025-26 budget, including $100m capital works to fund roads, projects and housing

The City of Albany will deliver its largest-ever capital works program this financial year after the council’s approval of the 2025-26 budget on Tuesday night. The behemoth program, worth $100.9 million, was passed without issue at the Albany council’s July meeting, as were the rate increases, which for the first time differed between the inner-city and rural residents. Unimproved value ratepayers will see an average increase of 9.95 per cent — representing about $5 per week — while gross rental value ratepayers will have their rates increased by 4.95 per cent. Representing an extra $400,000 in revenue, the higher UV rates will cover an extensive roadworks program that focuses on improving the conditions and safety of more than 20 rural roads, including Chillinup, Siding, Bennett, Hunwick and Old Boundary roads. Speaking at the meeting, mayor Greg Stocks said city staff conducted a “rural roadshow” to consult UV ratepayers about the proposed rate rise funding roadworks. “Continually over the time I’ve been here, 14 years, people have come up complaining about the condition of rural roads,” he said. “We went out with a proposition about raising rates and doubling the commitment from $2 million to $4 million into rural roads. “Its a long-term commitment . . . and we’re very pleased with the way the community responded to our rural roadshow.” A similar rise is expected to be implemented for UV ratepayers over the coming three years to fund the program. Cr Robert Sutton said the funding represented only the second “significant” improvement for rural roads in his 16 years on the council. Other big ticket items in the budget included $43m for the Albany Airport to improve the strength of the runway for larger planes, completing stage two of the Albany Motorsport Park, building 23km of shared-use trail through Mt Clarence and Mt Adelaide and delivering flagship events for the Albany 2026 bicentenary celebrations. The budget addresses the affordable housing crisis by an allocation of $14 million for the Mueller Street subdivision in Lockyer and progression of a structure plan for North McKail. Elected members will now receive superannuation contributions from July 1, a payment made mandatory for band one and two local governments following the State Government reforms in 2024. Councillors meeting attendance fees were boosted from $34,278 to $35,480, a change Cr Malcolm Traill attributed to added workload stemming from the upcoming dissolution of two councillor positions, while the mayor’s fees rose from $47,046 to $53,215. Eight of the officer’s nine recommendations regarding rates, waste collection, capital works, fee collection dates, fees and charges, superannuation, and material variance were carried unanimously. Only Cr Thomas Brough voted against the payment rise for elected members due to the absence of a “transparent mechanism” for measuring performance.