The 2024-2025 City of Gold Coast budget in a nutshell

The City of Gold Coast Council just handed down its $2.5 billion budget, which is the largest budget in the Council’s history.

What’s Happening?

The City of Gold Coast Council just handed down its $2.5 billion budget, which is making Gold Coast local news headlines as the largest budget in the Council’s history and the second-largest local government budget in the entire country.

Rates

Rates will rise 4.24%, which is under the current inflation rate of 4.80%.

This is a few dollars per week increase for the average principal place of residence ratepayer.

Core Services

• Safe and reliable drinking water: $321 million

• Safe and reliable sewerage services: $231 million

• Waste collection and disposal services: $151 million

• Recycling services: $46 million

Planning for population growth

The Gold Coast population is expected to hit 1 million people by 2041, up from our current 680,000 residents.

This steady increase will obviously require more transport and infrastructure, which will need to be balanced with green spaces, environmental considerations, and protecting the lifestyle that makes people want to live here in the first place.

In this budget, the road network will receive $255 million, with transport improvement allocated $138 million. Traffic management and safety will also get $37 million.

Some key initiatives include light rail stage 3 ($42 million), and light rail stage 4 ($14 million).

Bus services in the north will be subsidised up to the value of $3 million, and seniors and veterans will get free public transport.

The GC Lifestyle

Major sporting and aquatic centres will receive $35 million, libraries $32 million, community centres

$25million, and the lifeguard service $17 million. Some key initiatives include the Firth Park Sporting

Precinct in Mudgeeraba ($14 million), Surfers Paradise Cavill Mall revitalisation ($10 million), and

skate parks ($1 million).

Business

It’s no secret that tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Gold Coast economy. Tourism management and marketing is the biggest winner in this section of the budget, with $75 million allocated. Cultural and heritage is next, with $31 million, followed by tourist parks and campgrounds at $27 million. Business and industry growth programs, including for startups, will receive $750,000.

The Environment

Our precious hinterland is often referred to as the green behind the gold. Parks and natural areas will receive $207 million in this budget, with beaches getting $35 million, conversation receiving $30 million, and strategic land use planning getting $15 million.

Some key highlights include koala habitat land acquisition ($15 million), other land acquisition ($18 million), Greenheart stage 1 ($13 million), and rainforest restoration ($2 million).

It is estimated that the koala alone is worth $1.1 billion to the Australian economy, which makes its habitat worth protecting from a financial point of view, as well as the other obvious reasons.