The review has shown a steady financial position with a continued focus on renewing and maintaining community assets.
The document, part of council’s financial management process, outlines any adjustments to the original annual budget based on updated information from the first quarter of the year.
Murray River Council Mayor John Harvie said the review demonstrated council’s commitment to responsible budgeting and long-term sustainability.
“We’re continuing to manage our finances carefully to ensure we maintain strong services and infrastructure for our communities,” he said.
“This quarter has seen some sensible shifts in how we allocate funding, with a greater focus on renewal projects to look after what we already have, rather than taking on new assets that increase future maintenance costs.”
The key aspects of the review include reducing the capital program by $600,000, reflecting a shift towards renewal projects carried over from last financial year.
Council’s funding position also improved by $2.4 million, due to the use of reserves and previously unspent grants.
Rates and charges have increased slightly as a result of regional growth, contributing to a one per cent overall rise in income.
Expenses also rose by 3.4 per cent, mainly due to updated accounting treatments for software projects and higher depreciation following asset revaluations.
When capital revenue is excluded, the result shows a $6.2 million deficit, mainly due to adjustments between capital and operational projects.
Cr Harvie said the reclassification of existing projects from capital to operational had had the biggest impact on the expenses and deficit.
“Following an accounting standards review, we’ve moved some of our capital project activities into the operational category. This largely relates to intangible assets and projects such as software renewal and project implementation,” he said.
Council’s capital works program remains well on track, with $4.1 million spent to September 30 and most project delivery planned for the second half of the financial year.
Cr Harvie said while council was in a satisfactory financial position following the review, achieving long-term financial sustainability continued to be an important focus.
“To ensure we are on the path to financial sustainability, we need to continue our advocacy efforts to address funding shortfalls from state and federal government, along with the revenue constraints imposed upon us,” he said.
The full quarterly budget review is available at tinyurl.com/yc7jbbt3
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