The process is designed to ensure maximum engagement with communities of interest across the municipality.

Ararat chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said Council had been working on the budget over the last few briefings and was proud to soon reveal it to the community.

"It will be good to bring it out to the public and get some feedback from the public about what they think of our budget," he said.

"The exciting news, I can't help myself, is that zero per cent rate rise again which I think is very exciting for us to have achieved."

Prior to the adoption of the budget Council will look to get feedback from residents through community engagement.

Council revealed at the meeting they would be posting the budget on Engage Ararat by 5pm on Thursday June 2.

There will be a development of a one-page summary of the key budget deliverables and it will be available at a number of sites across the municipality from June 2.

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Council is set to host 'Town Hall' meetings in Ararat, Elmhurst, Tatyoon, Lake Bolac, Pomonal, Willaura and a virtual meeting on Microsoft Teams from Tuesday June 14 to Thursday June 16 to discuss the draft will residents.

Residents can also expect promotion of key budget elements across Council's social media and they will request feedback via Engage Ararat, email or conventional submission between June 2 and 24.

Council has also planned to meet with the Rural Roads Group to discuss road network development between 2022-23 and 2026-27 on June 8.

"I think it is important to give the opportunity to those who are non resident ratepayers to have some input over teams," Dr Tim Harrison said.

"I think by the end of that it will give most people the opportunity to have a say on our budget moving forward."

Cr Peter Beales said the budget mirrors the views and ideologies of Council.

"This budget has been constructed based on the directions of council and reflects our common goal which includes financial stability, community service and reducing the infrastructure gap," he said.

"It sustains council's commitment to the value of service and again does not impose an optional rate increase making it a zero per cent rate increase over five budgets.

"If you include inflation the effort has been considerably greater with inflation this year alone being 5.1%.

"Local government inflation is generally higher especially in rural areas because of large road networks and the fluctuating costs of materials, especially those based in oils such as bitumen."

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Cr Beales said he believed other councils "do not have the courage" shown by the chief executive Dr Tim Harrison and the Ararat Rural City Council.

"I have listened to some of the comments made of other councilors about the large rate increases and I am constantly amazed by the inaccuracies," he said.

"The money raised by councilors cannot be increased except for the amount set by the State Government without State Government approval.

"By the standard of the last four budgets, this budget is conservative but not a status quo budget."

Cr Gwenda Allgood wanted to ensure locals got involved in the feedback process instead of giving online hate.

"One of the problems I see we always have is we can engage with the people in the small communities but trying to get the locals involved," she said.

"It really offends me when we have so many attacks on Facebook, why these people don't come out of the cupboard and talk to us and try to see what we are trying to do really amazes me.

"It is really disappointing."

Cr Allgood stressed the hard work Council puts in every year to put together the budget.

"This is something we work towards every year for the whole 12 months to come in and get the rate player the best value for their dollar," she explained.

"That's what we are up to, we are not trying to fiddle any figures, we are trying to get the best deal possible for the rate payer."

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