Draft Budget 2026-27

Each year, Council prepares a budget. The budget sets out how Council plans to spend money over the year on services and projects.

  • Services: day-to-day things Council provides (for example waste collection, libraries, maintenance, community programs).
  • Projects: planned works or upgrades (for example roads, buildings, parks).

This consultation asks for your views on the draft Budget for 2026-27.

You can use two supporting documents below to help you take part (alongside the list of proposed fees and charges):

  • Budget Highlights (a short, easy-to-scan summary).
  • Budget Breakdown (more detail about what is included and why).

The aim is to understand whether the proposed Budget:

  • feels broadly right overall, given Council’s limited budget and many responsibilities
  • matches the spending proposed with what Council says it will deliver for the community
  • gives people enough information (through the Highlights and Breakdown) to have their say.

This is not about rewriting the Budget or asking people to rank every service. Instead, it focuses on whether the overall mix of spending, priorities, and outcomes seems reasonable. Your feedback will be used to support clear decision-making, and inform Council before the Budget is formally adopted.

You can take the opportunity to tell us what you think by filling in our online submission form, with submissions invited from Tuesday 28 April through to Friday 22 May 2026.

Alternatively, you can:

  • provide your feedback to one of our customer service officers by visiting one of our customer service centres in person at Kyneton, Gisborne, or Romsey, or by calling (03) 5422 0333
  • email your feedback to mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au with 'Draft Budget 2026-27 submission' in the subject line
  • mail your feedback to us at PO Box 151, Kyneton VIC 3444.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us via the contact details listed on this page.

Please note: A few minor typos were fixed in the Budget Highlights document on 6 May 2026, namely on Page 3 (Aitken Street, Hamilton Road, and removing an errant dot point to combine Romsey Road, Woodend footbridge).

Budget Snapshot

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  • $110.3 million

    Income: How much we are expecting to generate in revenue from rates, fees and charges, grants, and other sources.



  • $94.8 million

    Operating Expenditure: How much we are expecting to spend on services and initiatives.


  • $16.23 million

    Capital Expenditure: How much we are expecting to spend on capital works and projects.

  • $15.5 million surplus

    Cash Budget Result from Operations: Our expected income minus expected operating expenditure.

  • 2.75%

    Proposed rates increase: The percentage increase we are applying to rateable properties (falls within the Victorian Government-set rate cap).

  • $212

    Municipal Charge: A fixed, flat-rate fee applied to all rateable properties to cover administrative costs, such as governance and corporate services, regardless of property valuation.

  • $1 million

    Planned new borrowings: The amount we expect to borrow to contribute towards the budget.

  • $14.75 million

    Income from Kerbside Collection Charges: The revenue we expect to generate through the specific Kerbside Collection Charges in your annual rates notices, relevant to delivering the four-bin system on properties.

What did we hear from the community?

A summary of feedback themes from the initial stage of consultation in late 2025.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council is committed to protecting your privacy. The personal information you provide through this consultation is being collected for the primary purpose of responding to your submission and to keep you updated in relation to this consultation.

Where required, the personal information being collected will be provided to Macedon Ranges Shire Council staff or contractors, to help inform feedback and enable them to communicate with you in relation to the consultation where appropriate. To participate in this consultation, you must provide your personal information as required under 8.5 of the Naming Rules 2022. If the personal information is not collected, you will not be able to participate in this consultation. Personal information is required to be de-identified in any public summary of feedback, such as a summary provided to Geographic Names Victoria or as part of a future Council Meeting report.

Your personal information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, unless required or authorised by law. If you wish to gain access to, or alter any personal information you have supplied through this consultation, please contact Macedon Ranges Shire Council via phone (03) 5422 0333 or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au. Information provided will be stored in accordance with Council’s Record Management Policy and destroyed in accordance with the Public Records Act 1973.

You can access our Privacy Policy on Council's website, and it is available for inspection at Council’s customer service centres.