Moyne Shire caravan parks bring million-dollar council surplus

The council's annual financial report for 2022-23 revealed a $2.4 million operating surplus, down on the nearly $3.9 million surplus from the previous year, but solid enough to keep the shire's finances healthy, according to corporate and governance services director Ed Small.

"(The council) is in a very good position," Mr Small said.

An operating surplus is an accounting measure to show whether the council has enough revenue to finance its activities. The positive result doesn't mean the council has $2.4 million cash to spend.

The financial report showed significant "variances" compared to the 2022-23 council budget, with grant income exceeding expectations by more than $9 million. This included a $4 million financial assistance grant, $2.2 million in remote roads funding, $1.3 million to upgrade Port Fairy Football Netball Club facilities, and $500,000 for clean-up and repair work after the October 2022 floods.

But much of that unexpected income was offset by the roughly $8 million in unexpected costs, primarily relating to infrastructure renewal and maintenance, as well as $1.3 million in clean-up and repair costs from floods.

But arguably the biggest variance came from the shire's caravan parks.

The overall $2.4 million surplus was $1.57 million higher than expected, driven by "user fees" coming in at $11.3 million, $1.2 million higher than expected. Caravan park fees made up $1 million of this unexpected revenue.

The total revenue collected from caravan parks for the financial year topped $5 million, beating the all time record from the previous financial year of $4.4 million. The council had planned on a three per cent increase in revenue, but recorded a 14 per cent rise.

The Port Fairy caravan parks were the most expensive, with powered sites setting users back $65 per day at Southcombe and Port Fairy Gardens during peak season. The shire's other caravan parks in Mortlake, Koroit, Yambuk and Killarney all cost $46 per day for a powered site in peak season.

The Port Fairy caravan parks have long had a five per cent levy on booking fees which allows the council to subsidise the local Belfast Aquatics pool. When the arrangement was first established, caravan park users were given free access to the pool, however that was scrapped in 2018 when the pool found it could no longer afford handing out free passes.

Mayor Karen Foster said the council was in a "solid position" but needed to "keep a steady hand" in case financial headwinds took their toll.

"We're all feeling the effects of cost of living pressures and for council, the cost of doing business is growing at a rapid rate," Cr Foster said.

"It costs us much more to deliver our services and to maintain our roads and buildings than it did before."

Cr Foster said it was pleasing to see council staff turnover, which had spiked through the COVID-19 pandemic, "settling back to more normal levels".

She said the shire's caravan parks were one of the "great news stories" of the year for the council.

"They've been going gangbusters," she said.

"We're certainly seeing a return of international visitors, but we are also seeing a large number of intra- and interstate visitors.

"It shows that Moyne is clearly a destination of choice. We're pretty confident that our tourism and event offering is at a standard that people want to experience again and again."

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