Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor Glenn Wilson says this year’s budget has been “pulled apart, interrogated and understood” more than any other budget in his tenure and acknowledged more needed to be done with ratepayers’ money instead of “short sugar hits”.
The 2026-27 annual budget, which features $83 million in capital expenditure, a 4.96 per cent rates hike and projected year-to-end surplus of $669,000, was adopted at a special council meeting on Monday night.
The city has budgeted $79m for capital projects in the new financial year, including fleet replacement, with 89 per cent of that budget being for maintaining and upgrading existing assets.
Key investments include $15m for rural road upgrades, $11m for local road upgrades and resurfacing, $1.1m for footpath renewal, $660,000 for streetlighting upgrades, and $492,000 for CCTV upgrades.
Development of additional lagoons at the South Boulder wastewater treatment plant comes in at $6m and sport precinct lighting at $3.7m. There is also $4m for apron renewal and toilet refurbishments at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport, $475,000 for playground replacements and $170,000 for new inflatables at the Goldfields Oasis, which will also share $395,000 for fencing replacements with Hammond Park.
In addition, $13m has been allocated in the capital budget for the Oasis outdoor pool, which is fully funded from external sources but will require “further direction” from the council throughout the year on the future of the project.
The project was the subject of an additional point in the amended motion put forward by Cr Ric Halse which sought to ensure the council maintained oversight of the project and any further capital expenditure it required.
Other key figures from the budget include city employee costs rising to $47.2m — $5m higher than the 2025-26 actual employee spend of $42.2m and almost $11m higher than the 2025-26 budgeted figure of $36.4m.
Materials and contracts spend is budgeted at $40m — up from the 2025-26 actual spend of $31.5m — depreciation is expected to be $30m — up from $26.5m — and “other expenditure” is budgeted to more than double to $10.3m from $5m.
Utility charges show a lower budget at $4.8m from $5.1m.
Rates revenue is budgeted at $38.1m — up from $35.8m — fees and charges at $66.2m from $56m and grants, subsidies and contributions at $16.1m — up from $13.6m — bringing the total budgeted revenue to $132m, up from $116m.
Total expenditure is budgeted at $138.3m, up from $113.5m.
The city anticipates it will take out a $1m loan for the new lagoons at the wastewater treatment plant, which is far less than the $26.4m in loans it took out in the last financial year.
Reserve accounts are expected to drop from $19.3m to $15m — less than in 2025-26 which dropped from $31m — with $1m being added to the sewerage reserve and $5.3m being taken from the aerodrome reserve.
Elected member remuneration is budgeted at $792,000 — up from $585,000 — with the “other” expenses and “travel and accommodation” expenses both expected to go up by about $100,000 each.
Cr Halse’s motion, which was supported 9-0, also included amendments requesting quarterly progress reports to the council after a service level review and for a timeframe to be provided on when drafts of the strategic asset management plan, workforce plan, long-term financial plan, rating strategy, loan policy and reserve strategies will be presented.
Mr Wilson spoke in support of the motion and highlighted Cr Halse’s “consistent” approach in letting the council know about the importance of those documents, which now had a pathway to come back to the council.
He said this year’s budget process had been “confronting” at times, but “refreshing” at others, and thanked both staff and councillors for working through the “most intense budget process” he had seen in his almost 11 years at the table.
“I’ve never seen our budget pulled apart, interrogated and understood as much as what we have done in the last six months,” he said.
“No budget can do everything. We know there’s always more to do, but this budget is about looking at what we already have, continuing those essential services, and planning responsibly for our future.
“Every budget involves choices, and this budget is focusing on the things that our community relies on everyday. We’ve heard from the community about our basics — the facilities and the parks, the playgrounds, the clearer information from elected members, roads, footpaths, public spaces.”
Mr Wilson said the new budget also relied on discipline and accountability.
“Already we’ve seen the acting CEO meet with our staff to acknowledge that more needs to be done and more needs to be respected with ratepayers’ money and not just creating interesting little pieces for the city that are going to be short sugar hits,” he said.
“Loan policy, rating strategy, reserve strategy, they are things that we really need to concentrate on moving forward as a council to ensure that we continue to be prosperous here within our community.
“We know that trust is built through action and accountability, so the city, I’m pretty sure, will provide clear information for our community on what’s being funded, why decisions are being made, and how progress will continue to be reported, and something that will be led by us as elected members in a way that the community hasn’t seen before.
“There are some other plans in place as to how this can look, and I’m excited to see those, including more accountability to our statement of financial activity every single month.”
Deputy mayor Terrence Winner supported the motion and the endorsement of the budget but said he was concerned about the “growing gap” between what the council was aspiring to deliver, community expectations, future requirements for assets, and what the revenue base could sustain long term.
“On the surface, the budget contains some very positive outcomes,” he said.
“However, when I look beyond the headline figures, I see a financial position that remains fragile.
“The budget relies heavily on external grants, reserve movements, and an opening position that is still unaudited.
“While we are proposing a modest year-to-end surplus, we are also reducing available cash and drawing on reserves to support our capital programs.
“None of this is improper and none of this is hidden, but it does raise questions about how sustainable our current model is.”
The forecast depreciation of $30m for assets was another figure Cr Winner was concerned by, as it meant assets were wearing out “at a very significant rate”.
“The critical question is not whether we can build new projects today, the critical question is whether we can afford to maintain or renew those assets tomorrow,” he said.
He said this was why the commitment to undertake a service level review and review the long-term financial plan while also developing formal rating, reserve and loan strategies and policies was essential.
“We owe it to our community to ensure that today’s decisions do not become tomorrow’s burdens,” he said.
“So, while I support the budget, I do so on the basis that this council must maintain a relentless focus on financial sustainability, asset renewal, operational efficiency and transparency.
“We cannot rely indefinitely on grants, reserve drawdowns, or favourable economic conditions to bridge structural financial pressures.
“The budget before us is workable, but whether it is truly sustainable remains an open question, and one that I believe the council must continue to confront honestly, intensely and with urgency over the next 12 months.
“The margin for error is simply too small to do otherwise.”
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