Toowoomba council annual report: Mayor’s financial warning as council misses renewal targets
Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald warned the council’s sound fiscal status will be “challenged” as projections show it will struggle with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects.
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Projections show Toowoomba Regional Council will continue to fall far short of targets when it comes to renewing the region’s ageing infrastructure for the next decade, an annual report has revealed.
Councillors endorsed the report at a meeting on Tuesday, which showed the council continuing to lag behind in the metric that tracks investment in replacing assets against their depreciation.
This ratio was at 55.77 per cent for the 2022/23 financial year, and the council projects this could fall to 40 per cent by the 2032/33 financial year.
This metric had a 90 per cent target set by the state government, but has been revised to 60 per cent from this financial year.
Addressing this issue in a statement, mayor Geoff McDonald said it was “important to get the balance right” between funding building new assets and renewing existing ones.
“With an asset base of $6.4bn, it is more apparent than ever before that we must continue to fight for more funding from the state and federal governments to not only assist in maintaining and operating these assets, but to support long-term sustainability,” Mr McDonald said.
Mr McDonald said the council’s sound credit rating would be challenged in the next decade due to “large, multi-generational projects”.
These works include Cressbrook Dam safety upgrade works and ongoing flood-recovery roadworks - both of which are set to cost the council $200m.
The council’s final capital expenditure for the financial year was just over $171m.
Councillors spent more than $243,000 on expenses and vehicles, including more than $15,000 in legal fees for previous mayor Paul Antonio and deputy mayor Geoff McDonald.
Mr Antonio spent nearly $19,000 on a trip to North America and Canada with the Council of Mayors South East Queensland, and nearly $3000 on a trip to Toowoomba’s sister city in New Zealand.
Senior management staff salaries totaled $2m for the financial year.
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