Gympie Regional Council to record 5th operating loss in row

Efforts to pull Gympie Regional Council’s budget back into the black have fallen short with the council expected to record its fifth operating loss in a row, and its sixth in seven years.

Gympie Regional Council is epxetced to record its fifth operating deficit in as many years, although the loss will be significantly lower than originally forecast.

Efforts to pull Gympie Regional Council’s budget back into the black have fallen short with the council expected to record its fifth operating loss in a row, and its sixth in seven years.

The latest report on council’s finances, to be presented to councillors at Wednesday’s meeting, reveals the organisation finished the 2020-21 financial year with an operating loss of at least $40,000.

Recalculated depreciation costs and extra money needed for the rehabilitation of landfills and quarries likely to drag that figure down further.

The final figure will still be significantly better than the $3.45 million deficit originally forecast in the year’s budget.

The operating loss comes despite the council raising $800,000 more over the past three months than expected.

The council is reporting a $40,000 operating loss for 2020-21, although that is expected to deteriorate further.

Increasing development applications and building and plumbing inspections brought in an extra $237,000, while another $137,000 more than forecast was raised through water connection fees.

Heavier traffic at the region’s tips also brought in an extra $278,000 for the council.

However this was offset by a $368,000 increase in materials and services costs, $176,000 extra in depreciation costs and $323,000 more in employee costs over the past quarter due to “vacancy savings … not being fully realised”.

As of June the council had 487 employees, one more staff member than it had in 2020.

Mayor Glen Hartwig an councillors have made restoring the budget back to surplus a key priority.

Returning the council’s operating budget to surplus has been a key focus for Mayor Glen Hartwig and the council since the March 2020 elections.

The council has run at a loss for five of the past six financial years.

These ongoing losses, including deficits of $14.5 million in 2018-19, $6.3 million in 2019-20 and $5.1 million in 2015-1, resulted in the council’s long-term financial risk being elevated from “low” to “moderate”.

The State Government recommends council’s run an operating surplus each year.

The Queensland Audit Office’s latest report, which revealed two-thirds of the state’s local governments were in financial strife, found “councils that regularly incur operating losses often have weak strategic planning, asset management, and financial management practices”.

Outstanding rates remained at 5.92 per cent, more than one-third lower than the 9.49 per cent reported at the end of June 2020.

Originally published as Gympie Regional Council to record 5th operating loss in row