The City of Greater Geelong will adopt a new budget development process for the 2026–27 financial year, allowing for earlier and more meaningful community input.
The new approach invites the community to help shape the direction of Council spending much earlier in the budget cycle.
Under the plan, a Budget Discussion Paper will be released for community consultation in mid-February, providing the community with the opportunity to leave comments and submissions until April.
Bringing the community consultation into the budgetary process earlier will ensure that the community can shape the budget from a more fundamental level, rather than providing comments on a process that is almost complete.
The submissions will then be carefully reviewed as the final budget is developed, before targeted engagement with relevant community stakeholders from mid-April until the final budget is presented for endorsement by Council before 30 June.
Councillors will continue to engage in the usual listening posts, providing an additional channel for the community to express their feedback.
The new model for engagement has already been successfully implemented in other councils across Victoria, following reforms introduced by the Local Government Act 2020.
Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM:
Council budgets are extremely complex, as the community is entitled to expect sustainable delivery for the 30 services which Council provides.Bringing the community into the conversation earlier will help us to have a budget that is shaped by the community, for the community.
Finance portfolio chair Councillor Andrew Katos:
We will be communicating further at the start of 2026 about how to get involved.To ensure your voice is heard and the 2026-27 budget represents you, keep following yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au.
