Council's Strong Financial Position

Published on 04 November 2020

Council has always made it a top priority to provide the best possible services and infrastructure for our residents while being strong financial managers.

Never has this been more important than now. While many councils are struggling to balance their budgets, last month we received the tick of approval from our independent auditors, confirming that Council – despite the challenges of COVID-19 – remains in a strong financial position.

We are pleased that Fairfield City residents continue to pay some of the lowest rates in Sydney. This year Council made the difficult decision to lower rates further as a one-off to support you during these difficult times of COVID-19. This has had an impact on the amount of money Council has to spend in the community. But thanks to our careful financial management and savings in previous years we were able to do this.

Importantly, we also continue to meet the Government’s Fit For the Future benchmarks. As many of you would know, Council beat amalgamation, and meeting these benchmarks means that we can continue to stand alone and deliver the services and infrastructure you need.

Of our $175 million budget this year we will spend more than $75 million on new and upgraded infrastructure, including $26 million on buildings and facilities, $20.2 million on open space, $13.1 million on roads and $3.7 million on footpaths. We also continue to invest heavily in critical services like our libraries, childcare centres and leisure centres.

These are just some of the ways we are continuing to deliver value for money for your rates during COVID-19 while strengthening this City as a great place to live, work and raise a family.