Mackay council postpone $12m of capital works projects | Full list

Mackay council gives several reasons why $12 million was kept in the kitty instead of being spent on dozens of capital works projects, including roads. FULL LIST.

More than $12 million worth of work on dozens of capital projects in Mackay was not delivered in the 2020-21 financial year, documents have revealed.

The underspending includes about $870,000 on the new Mackay Animal Management Facility, almost $529,000 on the Northern Beaches Community Hub and millions on roads, traffic and pathway projects.

The full list of projects postponed or carried over were detailed in the latest council agenda.

Mackay Regional Council capital works director Jim Carless said delays across various areas had caused a lower-than budgeted capital spend.

Mr Carless said this included Covid-19 impacting deliveries of vehicles, truck bodies and other specialised plant and equipment.

“These rely on overseas markets and some local fabricators and suppliers,” Mr Carless said.

He said other projects had always been scheduled for a 24-month delivery accounting for Mackay’s fairweather period between May to December.

“However, slight delays in the awarding of projects due to ongoing tender negotiations, or scope confirmations, means the split of spend(ing) across the years has moved towards the current 2021-22 financial year,” Mr Carless said.

He said other factors influencing carryovers included timing issues, authorities delaying approvals, supply chain hold-ups including labour shortages, and market price fluctuations requiring projects to revert back to council for re-approval, re-scoping or re-tendering.

MRC organisational services director Kylie Lamb said the council had recently revised its budget review reporting process from quarterly to monthly to allow more flexibility to changing market conditions.

“We won’t necessarily wait for a quarterly budget review to amend the capital budget,” Ms Lamb said.

She said accounting for carryovers and other adjustments — including new works, savings and deferrals — the revised 2021-22 capital projects budget was $127 million.