Council money & rates

Rates and spending

In 2024–25 Wodonga's average rates per assessment were the 4th highest of the ten regional cities, while its reported expenses were the lowest per resident and the 2nd lowest per assessment.

• $2,188 Average general rates per assessment2024–254th highest of 10 regional cities; median of the other nine $2,086
• $1,728 Reported Council expenses per resident2024–25Lowest of 10 regional cities; median of the other nine $2,315
• $3,578 Reported Council expenses per assessment2024–252nd lowest of 10 regional cities; median of the other nine $4,382

Ticks mark the median of the other nine cities. A lower reported expense can reflect a smaller service, a cheaper one or different accounting, so these figures are not a value-for-money score.

SourceLocal Government Performance Reporting Framework — council data set · Local Government Victoria · 2024–25

What services cost and achieve, in Council services

Average rates

Since 2022–23, Wodonga's average rate per assessment rose 5.4% before inflation — less than the regional-city median, which rose 6.3% — and fell 1.0% after inflation.

• +5.4% Wodonga's average rate per assessment, before inflation2022–23 to 2024–25$2,075 → $2,188
• -1.0% The same change after inflation2022–23 to 2024–25$2,075 in 2022–23 is $2,210 in 2024–25 dollars
• +6.3% Regional-city median, Wodonga excluded, before inflation2022–23 to 2024–25$1,962 → $2,086
• 3 of 3 Years above the regional-city median2022–23 to 2024–25$102 above in 2024–25
• -10.1% Change Council's return attributes to leaving out the waste management charge2021–22 to 2022–23$2,308 → $2,075

An average across every kind of rateable property, not a household's rates notice.

SourceLocal Government Performance Reporting Framework — council data set · Local Government Victoria · 2020–21 to 2024–25

SourceConsumer Price Index, Australia — all groups, Melbourne · Australian Bureau of Statistics · 2020–21 to 2024–25

Rate cap

The state has capped the rise in councils' average rates at 2.75% for 2026–27; since 2016–17 the cap has ranged from 1.5% to 3.5%.

• 2.75% State cap on the rise in a council's average rate2026–273.0% in 2025–26
• 3.5% Highest cap since 2016–172023–24
• 1.5% Lowest cap since 2016–172021–22

The cap limits how much a council may raise its average rate across all its properties. It does not cap any single bill, or a council's total rates revenue.

SourceAnnual council rate caps · Essential Services Commission · 2016–17 to 2026–27

Rating differentials

Under the rating differentials set for 2023–24, development use land is rated at 205% of the residential rate in the dollar and rural farming at 70%.

• 205% Development use landSet for 2023–24Highest of the categories
• 200% Commercial vacant, Industrial vacant and Residential vacantSet for 2023–24
• 160% Commercial occupied and Industrial occupiedSet for 2023–24
• 70% Rural FarmingSet for 2023–24Lowest of the categories
• Nil Flat municipal charge on each property2025–2026 to 2028–2029Council does not levy a municipal charge.

A differential sets a category's rate in the dollar against the residential one; what a property pays also depends on its valuation.

SourceRevenue and Rating Plan 2025–2026 to 2028–2029 · Wodonga Council · Differentials set for 2023–24

Rateable properties by category, in Housing & property

Income

Rates and charges were 53.4% of Council's $103.5m income in 2024–25, and operating grants went from $7.5m in 2023–24 to $18.7m.

• $103.5m Total income (audited)2024–25$87.5m in 2020–21
• 53.4% From rates and charges ($55.3m)2024–2563.9% in the adopted budget for the year
• +18.3% Rates and charges revenue, before inflation2020–21 to 2024–25-0.2% after inflation; $46.7m → $55.3m
• $18.7m Operating grants2024–25$7.5m in 2023–24
• $10.3m Contributed assets, counted as income but not cash2024–25$21.7m in 2022–23 as restated; $16.8m as first reported

Council's performance return says the timing of Federal Assistance Grant payments affected its grant income in 2023–24 and 2024–25.

SourceAnnual Report 2024–25 · Wodonga Council · 2024–25

SourceAnnual reports · Wodonga Council · 2020–21 to 2023–24

SourceLocal Government Performance Reporting Framework — council data set · Local Government Victoria · 2023–24 to 2024–25

Expenses

Employee costs together with materials and services took $75.46 of every $100 of Council's $77.4m expenses in 2024–25.

• $77.4m Total expenses (audited)2024–25$187.7m in 2022–23, including $107.7m of asset write-downs
• $43.02 Of every $100: employee costs2024–25$33.3m
• $32.44 Of every $100: materials and services2024–25$25.1m
• $20.06 Of every $100: depreciation and amortisation, not cash2024–25$15.5m

Asset write-downs are accounting entries, not spending on services: $107.7m for land under roads in 2022–23, $16.0m for land and buildings in 2020–21 and $2.0m for land and buildings in 2021–22.

SourceAnnual Report 2024–25 · Wodonga Council · 2024–25

SourceAnnual reports · Wodonga Council · 2020–21 to 2023–24

Whether operations paid for themselves, in Financial position

Contract values

164 of the 1,907 procurement notices in Council's monthly reports state what the contract was worth, and none of the 859 notices for contracts awarded by Council itself do.

• 164 of 1,907 Procurement notices with a published contract valueOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reports8.6% of notices
• 0 of 859 Notices for contracts awarded by Council with a published valueOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reports
• 164 of 167 Notices for contracts awarded by the chief executive with a published valueOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reports98.2%
• $117.9m Total of the published valuesOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reportsNot Council's total spending on contracts
• 43.2% Share of that total in one awardFeb 2024 reportRegional Kerbside Collection Services (RKC8), $50.9m

A notice without a value means the report did not publish one, not that the contract had no value. The same procurement can appear in several notices.

SourceInformation reports — Competitive Services Report · Wodonga Council · Oct 2022 – Jul 2026

Every procurement notice, in Council Record

Tender to award

Of the 292 procurement references Council's reports show being advertised and later awarded, 221 were first reported as awarded within two months of first being advertised.

• 1,085 Distinct procurement references in the reportsOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reports360 appear in more than one report section
• 292 References reported as advertised and later as awardedOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reports
• 221 of 292 First reported as awarded within two months of first being advertisedOct 2022 – Jul 2026 reportsMedian 2 months; longest 9

Months are counted between the monthly reports a reference first appears in, not between tender and contract dates.

SourceInformation reports — Competitive Services Report · Wodonga Council · Oct 2022 – Jul 2026

Local suppliers

The share of awards Council reports going to local suppliers averaged 60.4% in 2022–23 and 40.9% in 2026–27.

• 40.9% Average of Council's monthly local-supplier figures2026–271 monthly figures
• 60.4% Average of Council's monthly local-supplier figures2022–238 monthly figures, from Oct 2022
• 21.1% to 96.2% Lowest and highest monthly figureMar 2024 and Nov 2023
• 43 Monthly figures publishedOct 2022 – Jul 2026No figure for Jan 2023, Aug 2023 and Jan 2024

Council's figure counts awards, not their value, by its own definition of a local supplier; the averages here are of its monthly figures.

SourceInformation reports — Competitive Services Report · Wodonga Council · Oct 2022 – Jul 2026

Capital works

Council spent $14.2m of its $16.4m adopted capital works budget in 2024–25, after spending more than adopted in the two years before.

• $14.2m Capital works spent (audited)2024–2586.5% of the $16.4m adopted budget
• 127.3% Of the adopted budget spent2023–24$20.3m as restated, of $16.0m; 133.9% on the $21.4m first reported
• $38.1m Highest year of capital works spending2022–23124.7% of the $30.6m adopted budget
• 3 of 5 Years spending more than the adopted budget2020–21 to 2024–25Lowest: 72.4% in 2021–22

Spending measures money spent against the budget adopted for the year, not whether projects were finished.

SourceAnnual Report 2024–25 · Wodonga Council · 2024–25

SourceAnnual reports · Wodonga Council · 2020–21 to 2023–24

What Council is building, in Projects & Consultations