The Horsham Rural City Council 2020-21 draft budget reveals a drop of more than 20 per cent in its capital works program expenditure.
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More than $4 million has been trimmed from council's capital works budget.
In the 2019-20 financial year, $20.36 million was spent on council's capital works program, compared to $16.04 million in 2020-21.
Expenditure for renewal works has risen 20 per cent to $11.90 million, nearly three-quarters of the program.
$2.9 million of the capital works budget will be spent on new assets, while $1.24 million is budgeted for asset upgrades.
Council said its capital expenditure program has been set and prioritised based on its Capital Evaluation Model, consideration of priorities from councillors and management, available grant funding and readiness to proceed.
The most significant infrastructure spend will be on road reconstruction.
$5.7 million will be spent on urban and rural road reconstruction in the municipality.
Of this, $3.85 million is designated to rural roads.
The Federal Government's Roads to Recovery program is contributing $1.13 million.
Rural roads make up about 94 per cent of the municipality's road network.
Among the proposed projects, rural road reseals and final seals are budgeted to cost $878,000, while rural road shoulder re-sheeting and reconstruction will cost $553,000.
The remainder of the road infrastructure budget, $1.88 million, has been designated to urban road reconstruction.
In 2019-20, $1.78 million was allocated to urban road reconstruction.
Urban roads comprise about six per cent, or 188 kilometres, of the municipality's road network.
Proposed urban road works include upgrades to Albert Street, Derimal Street and Frederick Street.
More than $500,000 is budgeted for the upkeep of footpaths and cycle ways.
The Wimmera River pedestrian bridge extension will receive $100,000 in new funding.
Council said it expects to plan the project in 2020-21, with construction in a future year.
The proposed works include the development of a pedestrian bridge across the Wimmera River at Hamilton Street.
The funding allocation will include geotechnical and environmental investigations, cultural heritage reviews and cost estimates.
The bridge would increase pedestrian and cyclist connectivity from the southern side of the Wimmera River to the Horsham CBD, council said.
Wesley Performing Arts and Cultural Centre was closed in late 2017 due to fire safety concerns.
Last year, council announced it was committed to reopening the facility.
Cash from the sale of the Horsham Music Academy will be used, in addition to $45,000 of new funding, to undertake assessments and complete works to address the building's regulation and structural integrity.
The project is likely to commence in October, according to council.
