At this week's ordinary meeting, Kiama Council celebrated significant progress on its Performance Improvement Order and endorsed its suite of high-level strategic documents including our Community Strategic Plan, Long Term Financial Plan, Budget, Fees and Charges and Delivery and Operational Plan.
Council reported excellent progress on its Performance Improvement Order (PIO) – with a current completion rate of 70% of actions, and nearly all remaining actions underway.
Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald said: "Hitting the 70% mark for our Performance Improvement Order is a great achievement and a tribute to the efforts of every single person at Council."
The Mayor also commended Council's work on Kiama's Community Strategic Plan (CSP), which is our highest-level strategic plan – reflecting the community's vision for the municipality and how Council and other stakeholders will work to achieve it.
The CSP is a 10-year document that is revised and updated every four years when a new body of Councillors is elected. Kiama Council consulted widely with our community to create this CSP 2025-2035 – taking on board feedback from thousands of community members who attended our pop-up events, made submissions and spoke to Councillors.
The Delivery and Operational Plan (DPOP) was also endorsed outlining in detail what Council will do towards achieving the vision set out in the CSP. The DPOP sets yearly targets and explains the main services, projects, strategies and policies Council staff will work on over the next four-year period.
Council's Budget and Long Term Financial Plan reflect the hard work Council has done to get our finances back on track. The figures show we're well in line to achieve a surplus budget in 2026-27. Council has reduced our overall budget deficit to $3.4M, down from a previous deficit of $18M.
"One of the most important highlights in this suite of documents is that we've dropped our budget deficit by over $3 million. That's an amazing $15 million in operational savings," said Cr McDonald.
Our Fees and Charges show a modest increase across the board, which reflect CPI and only go some way to recovering Council's operating costs, as wages have also risen in line with inflation, while the cost of electricity has increased by double that, and Sydney Water charges have increased by 18%.
Notable increases to our fees and charges include:
- Kiama Leisure Centre - 5%
- Cemeteries fees – 5%
- Domestic waste – 10% (this will cost the average household an extra $1.20 per week. This decision reflects waste disposal cost increases to Council of nearly 60% over the past 3 years)
Council rates were also endorsed to increase by the NSW Government (IPART) allowable amount of 3.7% for 2025-26.
"These figures show Council has made significant progress towards our goal of financial sustainability. It has not been easy and we are well aware of the hard work that underpins this sort of achievement," said Cr McDonald.
The CEO's report on the PIO shows Council has now completed nearly three-quarters of the actions outlined in our NSW Government-issued varied Performance Improvement Order. We are also well on the way through our own Strategic Finance & Governance Improvement Plan, which incorporates the PIO and more, with more than 55 actions in this Plan completed and a further 35 per cent nearing completion. Only 6 tasks in this Plan remain wholly outstanding.
"Of course, there is still more to do, including our service reviews, which will ensure our ratepayers (who are essentially our shareholders) that they're getting a good return on their investment."
"It's worth stopping to celebrate these milestones. I am proud of the team's achievements" Cr McDonald said.
