Liverpool City Council meets on Monday night consider a series of budget scenarios aimed at strengthening frontline services, improving neighbourhood amenity and responding to community expectations and containing staff wage costs.
Councillors will examine a suite of initiatives designed to boost agility in maintaining parks and greenspaces during peak periods, increase household waste collections to support cleaner streets, and introduce an additional yellow bin service for $1.
At Tuesday night's Extraordinary Council Meeting, Council resolved to set aside the original motion proposing across‑the‑board cuts, instead allowing time to fully assess the impacts of the proposed budget initiatives.
"The community has made it very clear that they value frontline services: clean neighbourhoods, well‑maintained parks, reliable waste collection and strong local amenity," Mayor Mannoun said.
"This decision gives Council the opportunity to carefully assess the impacts of these proposals before making final budget decisions. It's a responsible, transparent and considered approach."
Mayor Mannoun said the proposed measures focus on practical improvements residents will notice day to day.
"An earlier proposal included staffing changes, but there was no reference to 140 job losses. We've paused to properly assess the impacts," Mayor Mannoun said.
"What Council is doing is taking a prudent and measured approach to the budget, while responding to the real concerns our community is raising – cleanliness, maintenance, waste services, local compliance and neighbourhood presentation.
"We know households are under pressure from rising living costs, and Council has a responsibility to keep rates as low as possible while carefully managing spending and continuing to deliver the services residents expect in a growing city."
The initiatives to be modelled include:
- Employee costs of $114,598,373 representing a 7.25 per cent increase from 2025/26, allowing time to assess impacts on the draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan (DP/OP), Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) and Revenue Pricing Policy.
- Allocating $650,000 from the General Reserve to begin implementing a neighbourhood model focused on compliance and local presentation.
- Providing an additional $675,000 to Parks to support enhanced services during peak periods.
- Introducing an additional yellow bin service for $1, funded through the Domestic Waste Levy.
- Increasing household clean‑up services from two to four collections per year, with a maximum two‑week service period, subject to community agreement.
- Lowering the eligibility threshold for a red bin upgrade from six to five household members.
- Filling 26 vacancies within the Operations Directorate.
"These are the services that shape how people experience their city," Mayor Mannoun said.
"Whether it's cleaner streets, better maintained parks, improved waste services or stronger local compliance, Council is focused on delivering the basics well and ensuring Liverpool continues to grow as a clean, safe and liveable city."
Detailed financial and operational modelling is now underway, and Council will continue to keep the community informed as the proposals progress.
The results of this work will be presented to Councillors for consideration at the next Council meeting, to be held at 6pm on Monday 18 May.
