This document informs the City of Darwin’s Strategic Planning Framework and helps ensure Council responsibly funds day-to-day operations as well as strategic projects.

The LTFP 2023-33 provides a ten year overview of the City of Darwin's projected income expenses and capital works programs and sets out a plan to assist Council to navigate the complex economic outlook currently facing the Municipality, the Territory and the Country.  The LTFP illustrates that the Council are able, on average, to sustain $28M+ of capital expenditure per annum over the ten (10) year model period, with Rates increases of 5% in 2023/24 reducing over the 10 year period to 4%, and dwellings growth of 1.5%.  Except for the FY25 and FY27 years, capital projects are anticipated, on average to have investment of around $20M per year, with a focus on asset replacement with some capital investments.

The financial objectives of the LTFP are to:

• Develop an adaptable forward-looking financial model to ensure sustainability and enable the business to respond to changing community needs
• Ensure that strategic decisions are made within the agreed Council parameters and benchmarks
• Enhance the transparency and accountability of the Council to the community
• Support continuous financial improvement aspirations, encourage cost control, maximise available capital funding for the community and early identify potential financial challenges.