Annual Business Plan & Budget 2026/2027

Our Annual Business Plan & Budget is our key annual operational and financial planning document. It describes what services and projects we plan to deliver to our community and how they will be financed.

Annual Business Plan & Budget 2026/2027 summary

On this page: Summary / Guide to the document / Documents

Summary of our plan

Key new projects

Enviable lifestyle	Emerging economy	Remarkable landscapes	Proactive leadership
Sealing of the Thompson Beach Esplanade, fully funded by the State Government Improvements to the Lewiston Playground, including softfall and shade sail. Adelaide Plains Community Grants with a total of $25,000 available to support local community projects that make a positive contribution to our region’s community. Consult on a Middle Beach settlement plan inclusive of Salt Creek remediation and boat ramp alterations. Implement traffic calming infrastructure in Two Wells Main Street to promote safer roads and new pedestrian crossings in the main street. Continue our youth development program	Two Wells Town Centre project development advisor to manage our role in the development. Continue our Business Support Program, which provides non-financial assistance and matched funding for local businesses and residents considering starting businesses to build their capacity, create jobs and bring positive impact to our local economy.	New stormwater management in Chapman Street, Two Wells, to address stormwater issues and infrastructure impacts in the Chapman Street catchment Street/verge tree planting	Local government elections in April 2027 Strengthen our internal resourcing to improve operational efficiency, supporting Council’s growing workload in infrastructure and open spaces

Capital works program

$2.78 million in asset renewals, including 42km of road resheeting and 6km of road resealing.
$1.4 million in new or upgraded assets, including Lewison Playground improvements and sealing 3.3km of Thompson Beach Esplanade.

Budgeted income and expenses

Total operating income: $21.491 million
Total operating expenses: $20.805 million

Grant funding

$2.425 million Financial Assistance Grant
$500,000 Roads to Recovery Grant
$140,000 Supplementary Local Road Funding
$127,000 Green Adelaide (for coastal conservation)
$30,000 to support library operations

Rates and charges

Council is continuing the rates capping strategy from the 2025/26 financial year, so that eligible ratepayers will see a 2.8% increase to their rates payable from the previous year, achieved through the application of a discretionary rates cap of 2.8% for eligible properties.

Overview

2025/2026	2026/2027
2.8%	2.8%
$2,355	$2,540*
$2,355	7.85%
6,108	6,167
$14,383,647	$15,661,907

* The average rate is the average amount of rates that a property may pay in our region. This is calculated by: total amount of general rates revenue ÷ total number of rateable properties. Your rate may be different to this, as each property’s rate is determined by the land use category, and/or changes in property value.

Rates

Land category	2025/2026 Rate (cents in the dollar)	2026/2027 Rate (cents in the dollar)
Residential	0.333631	0.323622
Commercial shop	0.444062	0.430740
Commercial office	0.523466	0.507762
Commercial other	0.523466	0.507762
Industry light	0.473755	0.459543
Industry other	0.592194	0.574428
Primary production	0.316615	0.307117
Vacant land	0.341304	0.331065
Other	0.334298	0.324269

Charges

Service	2025/2026 annual charge	2026/2027 annual charge
Fixed charge	$417	$584
CWMS Middle Beach	$558	$597
CWMS Mallala	$847	$906
Kerbside waste collection: 3 bins	$216	$227
Kerbside waste collection: 2 bins	$216	$227

Average rate per rateable property

The average rate is the average amount of rates that a property may pay in our region. This is calculated by:

Total amount of general rates revenue ÷ Total number of rateable properties = Average rate
$15.662 million ÷ 6,167 properties = $2,540

Your rate may be different to this, as each property’s rate is determined by the land use category, and/or changes in property value.

	2025/2026	2026/2027
Average rate	$2,355	$2,540

Guide to the business plan and budget document

Reading the annual business plan and budget

Each financial year we prepare an Annual Business Plan and Budget. The business plan maps out the services and infrastructure we will deliver over the coming year, including what roads we will allocate money towards to reseal or resheet and what infrastructure will be installed or upgraded. The budget calculates what funds we need to be able to deliver these projects, which we use to calculate what rates will be for the coming year.

Councils must prepare a business plan and budget each financial year, under section 123 of the Local Government Act 1999. We publish our draft annual business plan, budget and Rating Policy together in one document, as they are informed by each other.

There is a lot of information that needs to be included in this document and many financial terms and concepts. Financial amounts in text, tables and figures may be rounded within this document. When in use, all amounts are rounded up to the nearest whole amount.

The 2026/2027 document is presented in 4 parts:

Business plan
Our operational plan that describes the services and projects we plan to deliver this year.
Budget overview
How we will finance our business plan, what has influenced the budget, and an overview of our income and expenses.
Rates overview
How rates will be calculated, based on the budget, and a summary of how rates and rate capping work.
Appendices
Our budget, and information relevant to our business plan and budget including capital works program, Draft Rating Policy and ESCOSA report from 2023.

How this document is made

The business plan and budget is developed over many months of meetings and workshops with Council Members, our Infrastructure & Environment Committee, Audit & Risk Committee and Council administration before formal consultation with our community.

We have also considered our strategic management plans and significant factors and influences, such as CPI predictions for SA, government grants, superannuation increases by the Federal Government and population growth in our region.

Community consultation on the Annual Business Plan & Budget 2026/2027 was open from 3 June to 28 June 2026.

What are operating and capital projects?

We undertake projects each year that do not result in increased ongoing costs, such as the cost of new maintenance or a commitment to deliver services into the future.

We call these operating projects and our list of projects each year often includes preparing new designs, updating policies or undertaking reviews. Sometimes we are required to do these projects to comply with legislation, other times we need to do them to help run effectively.

Council will progressively review the funding allocated to operating projects during the year to respond to emerging and changing demands, priorities and opportunities.

Capital projects involve creating new assets or replacing/upgrading existing assets. Assets are physical things like footpaths, playgrounds and buildings. New assets incur ongoing costs, such as interest, maintenance and depreciation. Replacing our assets does not increase our ongoing costs, as maintenance and depreciation is already built into the budget.