ROADS, rates and rubbish were the big ticket items in Redland Mayor Karen Williams' $259 million Back to Basics budget handed down on Thursday.
Delivering her budget, Cr Williams said Redland's 65,327 ratepayers would benefit from a low 1.91 per cent rating increase, known as the headline rate, the lowest in South East Queensland.
Cr Williams said she had remained true to her election promise of capping rates rises to CPI, despite the carbon tax burning a $2 million hole in the council's bottomline.
She said the headline rate, down from last year's 6.09 per cent, could have been even lower at 0.69 per cent if the carbon tax had not been introduced.
"We are talking about $1.2 million in carbon tax being directly attributed to waste, calculated using the $20 a tonne fee Brisbane charges us to use their landfill.
"There will be further indirect impacts from the carbon tax relating to fuel, electricity and gas bringing the total bill to $2 million.
"But this budget will bring real rates relief to ratepayers because we were heading for a much higher rate increase of about 5 per cent," Cr Williams said.
The council has a total operating revenue of $222 million, up from last year's $150.6 million, with a total operating expenditure of $178 million, up from $136 million, resulting in an operating deficit of about $4.15 million over the next financial year.
The majority of the increase in operating revenue and expenditure is due to the return of the water business.
The deficit is expected to become an $812,000 surplus in 2013-14, the same year the previous council had targeted a surplus of $3 million.
The budget accounts for abolishing tip fees and savings of $400,000 after halting the purchase of land for a remote car park to service Weinam Creek.
One of its highlights is a $69.9 million capital works program, of which 29 per cent will go to roads.
Last year, the council spent $49 million on its capital works and this year's increase is largely due to the council taking control of the maintenance of its water assets.
With the re-integration of Redland Water, the council has budgeted for $12.8 million of water infrastructure capital works, including extending the Point Lookout waste water treatment plant.
This year, it will spend $9.18 million on road maintenance programs on the mainland, North Stradbroke Island and the southern Moreton Bay islands.
A further $4.1 million will go to reseal and resurface roads, $3.7 million to upgrade roads on the southern Moreton Bay islands and $5.14 million to repair Raby Bay canal walls, up from $4 million.
The second largest capital works outlay is $8.9 million for landfill capping and site remediation at Judy Holt Park, Birkdale landfill, Giles Road, and Duncan Road.
Conservation programs were allocated $2.3 million and the city's koalas will get $932,140, which will be spent on population surveys, restoring their habitats and educating people.
The council was also able to reduce its debt to $71 million, down from a projected $78 million outlined in the 2011 financial strategy.
Its $9.2 million deficit was slashed to $4 million.
Cr Williams said much of the debt reduction came from council "belt-tightening" measures and a minimum of $4 million would be found next financial year under her Back to Basics plan.
The 5700 ratepayers who receive the maximum pension will get a $330 concession and the 3500 ratepayers who get a part pension will get a $165 rate reduction.
The council's 1.91 per cent headline rate compares with headline rates of 3.5 per cent at the Gold Coast, 4.2 per cent at the Sunshine Coast, 5.3 per cent in Brisbane, 8.9 per cent at Logan and 9.4 per cent at Ipswich.
