The Budget was delayed for a month to take into account the federal election result and subsequent funding streams from Canberra.

Horsham Mayor Mark Radford said the council would advocate for projects that would benefit the whole region.

"Regional Cities Victoria has an advocacy program of which we're a part of. The biggest one is the Regional Growth Fund, which is asking for $600 million over four years supporting tourism and jobs," he said.

"Then there's Regional Connectivity which is $100 million for connections and communications. There is an ongoing need for better connectivity.

"For the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal, we want to see an increase and continuation of the Mode Shift Incentive Scheme. It encourages people to use trains rather than trucks for freight. That's something that benefits the Wimmera in the long-run."

Related: Horsham Rural City Council releases $50 million draft Budget for 2019-20

Cr Radford also said the council would like to see more funding for rural roads.

"We'll also be continuing our advocacy to return passenger rail back to Horsham," he said.

Yarriambiack Mayor Graeme Massey said the council wanted to see funding for the competition of the Warracknabeal Education Precinct.

"We want an announcement for when they plan to complete stages two and three of the project. That's the most pressing issue concerning our community at the moment," he said.

"Even something to say that they plan on doing it next Budget would be better than hearing nothing."

Cr Massey said roads was always the council's top priority.

"Any additional funding to assist us with roads is welcome. Also, anything to do with healthcare and waste management. Every Budget we want those things to be funded," he said.

For West Wimmera Shire Council, money for water and mental health was essential. Mayor Jodie Pretlove said the council would love to see support for the West Wimmera Rural Pipeline project.

The pipeline would provide piped water to towns such as Edenhope and Harrow. The project's steering committee submitted a business case to the government for funding in October.

"The pipeline will come through the southern end of the shire and it will mean a permanent water supply for many residents. That's the main project we've been advocating for," she said.

Cr Pretlove said the shire's mental health outreach program also needed permanent funding to continue.

She said council would like to see more money for capital works projects. She said when council received money for projects in the shire, it often wasn't enough.

"We would like to see a better commitment for capital works," she said.

"We've been granted money for certain projects in the shire and often the scope of the project is more than the grant money we receive, so then we have nowhere to go. We would like to see more money coming our way to support these projects."

Hindmarsh Mayor Ron Ismay said funding for recreational facilities would take priority.

"We're seeking funding for the grandstand at Davis Park at Nhill worth $500,000. We've applied for funding before and been knocked back and I think we've missed out on a second round so we're gonna apply again," he said.

"There are quite a few user groups that use it, and the grandstand there has been condemned. We can't use it anymore. It still looks sound, but it's one of those things where you can't afford for it to collapse."

The council has allocated $100,000 towards this in its 2019-20 draft Budget.

Cr Ismay said roads would also be a major advocacy issue for the council.

"With the Albacutya Bridge, we've already got state government funding for that, but from my point of view that is a very high priority so we'll be speaking to the federal government about that again," he said.

The state government 2019-20 Budget will be released on Monday.

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