Getting to the bottom of financial jargon
Public authorities cannot be assessed by the same methods used to measure the effectiveness of private corporations
Ipswich
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I WRITE with reference to the article published concerning the management of the finances of Ipswich City Council in 2016-2017 (QT 01/01).
In the story, City Management, Finance and Community Engagement Committee chairperson Wayne Wendt was quoted as saying "the surplus was a result of good financial management”.
In practical terms this statement is meaningless unless ratepayers are given some measure that shows the 21 per cent reduction in expenditure which fuelled the surplus was not achieved simply by the provision of fewer services.
Contrary to perceived wisdom, public authorities like Ipswich City Council cannot be assessed by the same methods used to measure the effectiveness of private corporations.
A more effective means of judging Ipswich City Council would be for them to ruthlessly measure the quantum of services provided for the income available and compare this, not only to previous periods, but to other local authorities of similar size.
This is nothing new.
It has been pointed out by respected management consultants as far back as Tom Peters in 1982. I would recommend Cr Wendt acquire a copy of Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards by David N. Ammons for the detail.
KEN ALDERTON
One Mile
Originally published as Getting to the bottom of financial jargon
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