Please attribute the following statement to Aurukun Shire Council Mayor Dereck Walpo:
Aurukun Shire Council’s 2015/16 budget has been adopted with caution in challenging financial times.
There are numerous operational and capital items that could not be included in order that a balanced budget can be adopted.
Council is committed to continuously reviewing expenditure and making necessary adjustments to ensure that incoming and outgoing cash flow remains as equal as possible.
The only way some items will proceed will be through possible grants and loans if necessary.
Every effort will be made to increase Council’s own source revenue but it is highly unlikely that our revenue raising efforts will match our growing requirements throughout the year.
The 2015/2016 budget aims to generate a total recurrent revenue of $17.41M and $1.632M of capital grants revenue. The 2015/2016 budget for operating expenses will total to $18.89M.
The capital budget for 2015/2016 financial year totals $3.788M
The highlights of Aurukun Shire Council’s 2015/2016 budget are as follows:
- Council estimated it will spend $800K in this year for Community Police, without getting any subsidies from the State, either directly or through the Police Department. Lobbying action is being taken to redress this inequity.
- In accordance with its asset management plan, Council is committed to upgrading its infrastructure assets to a higher standard, to provide better service to the community.
- Council will implement recording and reporting efficiencies, to ensure that all costs are correctly allocated to their relevant areas.
- Without the above initiatives, and progressive improvements in operating methodologies, Council’s long-term sustainability forecast indicates a continuation of operating losses over the period under review. Council is taking a proactive approach to rectify this problem.
- Council will continue to identify, and follow up, new revenue streams that will provide a net additional benefit to Aurukun Shire.
- Council has set an exciting and challenging task to complete development of our accommodation facilities.
- The fees and charges have been increased generally at 3%, with some remaining at their present level.
- I look forward to three budget reviews throughout the year. These reviews will provide a comprehensive explanation of reasons for under and over expenditure and revenue.
Finally, I thank our Corporate Services staff particularly Chief Accountant Tom Ortiz for the preparation of the budget with valuable input from Aurukun Shire Directors and the Chief Executive Officer.
Yours in local government
Mayor Dereck Walpo
Aurukun Shire Council