Shaping Whitehorse – Have your say on our Proposed Budget 2025/26 and Revenue and Rating Plan 2025-2029

Shaping Whitehorse is about working with our community to plan for the next 4 years and beyond.

This major community consultation is helping to set the priorities for the services Council provides, the facilities and projects we invest in, and how we support the health and wellbeing of our community.

From March to May 2024, more than 1400 people shared their ideas about local priorities, Council services, and community health and wellbeing. Our Shaping Whitehorse community panel then provided in-depth feedback and recommendations to further inform our work.

Following this extensive community engagement process, we developed the Integrated Council Plan 2025-2029 (includes the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan), which outlines key initiatives and services that Council will deliver to bring us closer to Whitehorse’s 2040 Community Vision.

Our community’s input also helped inform the development of the following key financial documents:

  • Proposed Budget 2025/26 - which outlines the funds and resources required to deliver the actions outlined in the Integrated Council Plan.

We are seeking community feedback on the Proposed Budget 2025/26 and Proposed Revenue and Rating Plan until 12pm 13 May 2025.


How to get involved:
  • Complete the survey below by 12pm, 13 May 2025, to share your thoughts.
  • Hardcopy surveys are available at Whitehorse customer service centres and libraries. Once completed, return your survey to any customer service centre by the closing date.

Our Proposed Budget 2025/26 outlines the services, initiatives and extensive Capital Works program that Council plans to deliver in the coming financial year, as well as the funding and resources required to deliver them.

The feedback we received through our Shaping Whitehorse community engagement in 2024 directly informed the development of the Proposed Budget, helping us ensure it reflects the needs and aspirations of our community.

The budget emphasises our contained focus on responsible governance, long-term financial sustainability, and increased advocacy to secure resources and outcomes that matter to our community. It supports essential services and infrastructure, while planning for population change, evolving community needs, and enhanced safety.

Budget snapshot

  • $187 million operational budget to deliver services.
  • $53 million capital works program.
  • Rate increase of 3% (in line with the State Government’s rate cap).

Proposed Budget highlights include:

  • $26.35 million for household bin collections and public waste services.
  • $16.79 million for the maintenance of sports fields, parks and gardens.
  • $15.34 million for leisure and recreation services.
  • $12.73 million for family services and community health.
  • $12.14 million for the maintenance of footpaths, drains and roads, sustainability and depot operations.
  • $11.34 million for the Whitehorse Recycling and Waste Centre (waste transfer station).
  • $10.33 million for community safety including community laws, parking, school crossings and emergency management.

Capital works highlights include:

  • A significant investment in Box Hill City Oval, including $8 million to begin a major redevelopment of the ground’s pavilions and buildings, $3.40 million for the renewal of the playing surface, plus $900,000 for upgrades to the cricket training nets.
  • $6.32 million in other pavilion upgrades.
  • $4.28 million to continue the Vermont Reserve pavilion upgrade.
  • $3.26 million for footpath renewals.
  • $2.67 million for road resurfacing projects.
  • $1.40 million for the renewal and upgrade of playgrounds.

Read the full Proposed Budget 2025/26.

The Proposed Revenue and Rating Plan outlines how Council will generate income to fund our Budget and deliver on our Integrated Council Plan 2025-29 commitments. It considers:

  • How we generate income through rates
  • Service charges and rates applied on services such as waste and recycling
  • Fees and charges for services and programs
  • Contributions from developers
  • Revenue generated from Council assets
  • Grants from other governments.

Read the full Proposed Revenue and Rating Plan.

The Integrated Council Plan 2025-2029 details what we will deliver to the community, how we will deliver it and how we will measure our progress over the next four years.

Our community played an essential role in developing the plan, providing feedback and recommendations through our extensive Shaping Whitehorse community engagement process in 2024.

In addition to the feedback received from our community through Shaping Whitehorse, the plan considers research including demographic data, projected population growth and analysis of community needs.

It outlines 5 strategic directions which provide the roadmap for how we will continue to work towards the Whitehorse 2040 Community Vision. The strategic directions are:

  1. Community
  2. Built
  3. Economy
  4. Natural
  5. Governance

Each strategic direction is supported by a series of objectives and strategies that outline the tangible actions we will take to achieve them.

The proposed Integrated Council Plan (abridged) 2025-2029 and 2025/26 action plans are available as part of the current community consultation to provide context and completeness to the process. Council has already met the legislative requirements for deliberative engagement under the Act and is now seeking to close the loop with the community by sharing the outcomes of Shaping Whitehorse.

Check out our summary of the engagement process to date.