Review Today Summary and Reports
Armidale Dumaresq Council has reviewed the report prepared by independent consultants Review Today, which was presented to the community during a public forum last Thursday evening.
Review Today was commissioned by the Council to undertake an assessment of the Council’s financial sustainability. The review assessed the state of the Council’s existing infrastructure, the cost of bringing this infrastructure up to a satisfactory standard and how best to renew infrastructure into the future.
The Council’s General Manager Shane Burns said the Council’s management team had for a number of years expressed concern during budget preparations regarding the gradual deterioration of assets, particularly in the roads and bridges area of the Council’s operations. He commended the Council for taking action in supporting the commissioning of this report before the problem became too difficult to address. .
“The report has identified a $8.8m backlog in asset maintenance and a set of recommended strategies required under a responsible spending scenario to address this issue,” Mr Burns said. “The report also outlines a range of actions that aim at placing the Council into a financial sustainable position going forward.”
The report indicated that the Council was currently in a financially vulnerable position and without some sound but hard decisions, the Council would slip into an unsustainable position within a few years.
“If these issues are not addressed, the Council may find itself dealing with further asset failure, placing the Council at risk of significant litigation and leaving future generations with a impossible challenge in funding assets,” Mr Burns said.
Armidale Dumaresq Mayor Cr Peter Ducat said it was the Council’s intention to consult and engage with the community regarding the report and it’s recommendations, and to develop a solution for the challenges identified.
“This Council is committed to the objective of sustainability and in this case, some hard but necessary decisions will have to be made regarding the future direction of the Council,” Cr Ducat said. “These decisions will only be made after extensive community input.”
The report has recommended a set of financial objectives and revenue strategies. Specifically that the Council increase general rates by an additional 2 per cent over and above CPI for the next ten years, to limit increases in spending on services to 2.2 per cent double the population growth and increase fees and charges annually by 5.2 per cent to address the backlog in assets and achieve financial sustainability.
Mr Burns said that management had for some time been looking at a number of initiatives to mitigate the level of any rates and charges increases such as reducing overheads, streamlining processes and sale of excess properties. These initiatives will be taken to the community as part of the extensive community engagement and consultation planned.
Copies of the reports are available below.
For further information contact Cr Peter Ducat on 0428 669 866 or Mr Shane Burns on 6770 3822.
Contact details
Shane Burns
02 6770 3822 (ph)
council@armidale.nsw.gov.au
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Download files Asset Management Review Part 1 (pdf 824 kb ) Asset Management Review Part 2 (pdf 329 kb ) Review Today - Final Overview Report (pdf 2 Mb ) Review Today - Final Fiscal Projection (xsl 181 kb ) Review Today - Final Public Presentation Address (pdf 985 kb ) |
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