2018-04-16 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                     16 APRIL 2018


REPORT
Section 170(3) of the Local Government Regulation 2012 allows Council, by resolution, to amend
the budget at any time before the end of the financial year. Consequently, formal budget reviews
are scheduled to occur during August, November and April using the latest financial information
available as the basis to revise the budget forecast.

The key criteria for budget reviews include:
1. Council must maintain an operating surplus in the original budget year and ensure financial
   sustainability targets continue to be met.
2. Increases in operating expenditure should be funded wherever possible through additional
   revenue. Where this funding is not possible at the branch or departmental level, then
   operational savings should be identified to ensure no reduction in the overall operating position
   for Council.
3. Capital submissions will be reviewed and authorised by the Capital Works Executive group
   before inclusion as a budget review submission, where the group will consider justification for
   the request, deliverability as well as organisational and community priorities before endorsing
   any capital works.
4. All operating and capital submissions for additional spend, reallocation of savings or additional
   revenue will be confirmed by the Executive Team based on business risk assessment.

The revised statement of comprehensive income, included as Attachment 4, identifies the financial
statement line items that have been affected by the proposed budget adjustments. The budget
financial statements, included in Attachment 5, also identify the impact of the proposed budget
adjustments to Council’s financial sustainability indicators through a revised 10-year financial
forecast.

1.    Operating Budget Adjustments
The budget review includes a number of proposed adjustments to Council’s operating revenue and
expenditure budget for 2017/18. All requests have been reviewed by the Executive Team prior to
inclusion in the budget review. The following points summarise the key operational budget
requests, with a detailed list contained in Attachment 1:
 Emergent: Expenditure of an emergent nature including an increase in requests to address
    trees posing a safety risk on public land, wages and disposal costs associated with removal of
    algae from Noosa Main Beach, stormwater pipe repairs at Noosa Waters, public interest
    disclosure requests as well as legal costs incurred in defending development application
    appeals.
 Organisational: Cost increases associated with higher Queensland Audit Office fees, casual
    staff cover for permanent staff on long-term sick leave as well as service review and
    consultancy costs. Savings have been identified for fleet fuel costs, public building maintenance
    and interest on loan borrowings.
 Funded Initiatives: These include koala habitat tree planting in Giraween Nature Refuge
    funded via special contribution, grant funded programs for Game on Queensland and
    Embracing 2018 and subsidised services at Noosa Community Support.
 Other New Initiatives: These include establishment costs for the Digital Hub, administering
    the implementation of green waste bins, safety inspection of the Noosa Leisure Centre rock
    climbing wall, stormwater pipe cleaning at Hasting St/Lions Park, maintenance work on timber
    street furniture as well as OH&S works at Noosaville Depot. To ensure Council maintains an
    operating surplus in line with the Financial Sustainability Policy, the majority of these new
    initiatives have been funded through identified savings such as the kerbside clean up not
    occurring in 2017/18, parks and gardens mulch purchase costs, vacant staff positions as well
    as internal recoveries from increased use of material produced at Ringtail Quarry.


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