Community & Business
9 September, 2024
Gilgandra Shire Council’s quarterly budget review
During the monthly council meeting on Tuesday August 20, councillors were presented with the quarterly budget review as of June 30.
During the monthly council meeting on Tuesday August 20, councillors were presented with the quarterly budget review as of June 30.
Overview
The General Fund is at a $728,105 deficit.
The Water Fund and Sewer Fund are both in surplus, at $224,351 and $249,082 respectively, which is seen as satisfactory.
Orana Living has seen a $46,652 increase to the estimate, in a surplus of $106,925, a highly beneficial position compared to the original budget.
Carlginda Enterprises has a $35,162 deficit, a worsening of $46,822 from the original estimate.
Cooee Villa Units has had a $139,018 increase to its estimate, and is currently at a $353,875 surplus.
Home Care Packages is at a $6,077 surplus, which a severe worsening to its original estimate; while unsatisfactory, a large portion of the worsening is a result of transfers to the reserves, and no remedial action is required.
Cooee Lodge Hostel has had a $365,364 increase to it’s end of year estimate, and is sitting at a $575,217 surplus.
Jack Towney Hostel is currently at a $19,819 surplus, despite having a $90,079 decrease to its estimate, and no action is deemed necessary.
The overall result for council as of June 30 is a $772,079 surplus, an improvement of $168,325 from the original end of year estimate, a satisfactory result for this quarterly budget review.
Breakdown of the General Fund
The original budget estimate for the General Fund was an end of year result of a $362,123 deficit not including depreciation.
The General Fund has seen an actual overall deficit of $728,105 attributable to several additional expenses and falling income in multiple areas, however no remedial action has been suggested.
Wages and other employee costs incurred an additional $54,962, along with a $58,121 increase to certain admin costs such as the phone bill ($47,466 additional expense) and employee overhead costs of $272,468.
Property expenses, the cost for rates and water usage for all council properties managed under the General Fund, saw $61,285 additional expenses, this year especially due to severe water loss at the public pool.
Community Services Administration Expenses such as Groworx saw a notable increase in expenses along with Community Care Expenses, Housing Expenses, Medical Centre Expenses, Library Expenses, Parks Pool and Gardens Expenses, and Fitness Centre Expenses.
Roads and rail saw a net positive change: Rural Roads Income saw both $436,631 in additional income and $1,503,952 in decreased costs, along with an additional $1,730,545 income from State Roads and $179,080 less expense from Inland Rail.
Also seeing a net positive are Waste Management Expenses with $93,521 less expense, Urban Stormwater Drainage with $36,547 less expense, and Gilgandra Youth Services with $106,182 less expense.
There have been 17 transfers from reserves for this budget review and 25 transfers to the reserves.
Capital Income has seen a $4,333,122 downturn, and Capital Expenditure has seen a $4,506,022 downturn as well.
