Business plan and budget

The business plan and budget is the key annual operational and financial planning document of the City of Adelaide. It describes what services and projects we plan to provide in the upcoming financial year and how we propose to allocate our budget.

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The 2023/24 Business Plan and Budget is the key annual operational and financial planning document for the City of Adelaide. It describes the priorities, programs, services and projects that we plan to deliver, our sources of revenue, financial levers, long term sustainability and how we propose to allocate our budget.  

Over the past three years, the City of Adelaide has continued to demonstrate its credentials as a safe and liveable city. The city is continuing to grow and move forward from the post-COVID-19 recovery period. Council’s financial responsiveness to the early impacts of the pandemic has delivered ongoing support and investment in local businesses and our community.  

This first Business Plan and Budget of the newly elected Council continues this good work and focuses delivering post-COVID-19 budget repair, upgrades to city infrastructure and engendering pride in our City. This year marks a transition to a new agenda with the preparation of a new Strategic Plan and City Plan, reshaping our Long Term Financial Plan, Asset Management Plans and seeking and meeting community expectations for the services we deliver.  

Council recognises our current financial position, and the need to make financially sustainable decisions throughout the Business Plan and Budget process, so revenue can be redirected to urgent upgrades of our basic city infrastructure, including footpaths and other crucial assets and continuing to deliver valued outcomes for the community. This includes rethinking Council’s core revenue bases post-COVID-19 with a general 5% increase on fees and charges, a transitional return of Park Lands events and outdoor dining charges and a 10% cap on rates. 

Our approach to setting rates, fees and charges will be critical in ensuring we are able to deliver for our community now, and in the future. 

Prioritising levels of service for our infrastructure will ensure we can deliver well maintained community assets. In addition, maximising funding opportunities through effective advocacy and partnerships will support greater public value for ratepayers and our community. We will work with partners to support city growth, investment, affordable housing, climate resilience and city-wide improvements, while remaining committed to protecting our Park Lands and greening our city.  

As the Capital City Council for all South Australians, we play a key role in ensuring people have pride in our City. Council will continue to welcome visitors back to our City, create a vibrant, culturally diverse community, drive economic growth for our businesses, protect and celebrate our Park Lands, improve our Public Realm infrastructure for all to enjoy and show leadership through partnerships, advocacy and by being financially sustainable.

Our Council, our community and our partners want us to:

• Improve our city streets and public infrastructure through investing in core services and maintenance of the public realm.

• Deliver well-planned and well-designed streets and places that we can be proud of, with policies that encourage activity and growth while preserving our Park Lands, heritage and environment.
• Focus on financially sustainable decision-making and strategic partnerships which enable future investment, jobs and growth in the City.

Council will achieve this in 2023/24 by prioritising the following objectives.

Under the Local Government Act 1999 Council must develop and adopt ‘strategic management plans’ which identify the Council’s objectives, how a Council intends to achieve its objectives, how they fit with the objectives of other levels of government, performance measures and estimates of revenue and expense.

The City of Adelaide is also guided by our suite of Strategic Management Plans:

• Strategic Plan
• Long Term Financial Plan
• Strategic Asset Management Plan (also available as a print version)

The Statement of Changes provides the City of Adelaide's significant changes, following internal review and public consultation throughout May and June 2023 on the Draft 2023/24 Business Plan and Budget.

For further information or any questions you have in regards to Council’s Business Plan and Budget, please email our team at [email protected] or call us on 8203 7203.