At the 31 October 2022 Extraordinary Council Meeting, the Monthly Financial Results for September provided an update on how Council is tracking financially year-to-date (YTD).

I’m pleased to confirm that Council is trading favourably this financial year and continuing the trajectory we’ve been on for the past 18 months.  At the end of September 2022, we showed a $10.3M YTD surplus, which is approximately $6M better than budget. 

Most interestingly though, we’re showing $307.9M worth of borrowings (that is, loans outstanding) and this amount has been trending downwards since December 2020. Council’s total amount of borrowings is now $10M less than the two combined Councils had when they merged in May 2016, and that’s including the $150M worth of emergency loans required. 

This means our total gross debt is lower than what was outstanding at the merger in May 2016. This is great news, and demonstrates Council’s commitment and focus on financial sustainability is steadfast. 

As I have said previously, the financial crisis is behind us and there are clear and transparent guidelines in place which can keep us on track financially into the future.

With this positive trajectory and momentum continuing, Council can target productivity and service improvements in key areas where the community expectation is not being met, and I look forward to these services improving for the community.

Rik Hart, Administrator