Whakatane District Council Chief Executive Diane Turner says the Council is focused on continuous improvements to sharpen its performance in delivering services to the community in an efficient and cost effective manner, despite a $10.89 million book deficit.
Speaking after the Council adopted the Annual Report on Monday 2 November 2009, Ms Turner noted that many of the budget variances are due to the revaluation of assets and less subsidies being received as a result of projects not being undertaken. These have little or no effect on the Council’s overall cash flow position. If non-cash items are excluded, the Council is in a strong position with a positive net operating cash flow of $7.75 million, which is a satisfactory position for the Council given the economic climate during the year.
Ms Turner said a downward revaluation of some of the Council’s investment property, after budgets were set, resulted in a book loss of $2.34 million. This was coupled with an increase in depreciation expenditure of $5.22 million due to the upward revaluation of infrastructure and the writing off of the Council’s Burma Road landfill to recognise its closure in December.
The Council continues to build the capacity of its internal systems to provide better customer services. In this regard Ms Turner noted that new computer modules to assist with customer contacts and for the processing of resource consents were successfully implemented.
“The adoption of robust project management principles and systems, and the mapping of business processes are beginning to have results as the Council continues to improve its turnaround times for resource and building consent applications, the delivery of projects on time and the handling of requests for service” she said.
The improvement in performance provides the Council with some headroom to explore ways in which to manage the recession and its impacts on the District from a relatively stable position.
Whakatane District Mayor Colin Holmes said the Council spent $56.5 million providing services, with 41% of this expenditure being on water supplies, roads, wastewater and stormwater services.
The report shows the Council completed $18.14 million of capital expenditure this year compared to $17.9 million in the last financial year.
Mr Holmes said more importantly the Council held extensive discussions with the community about its strategic direction during the development of the Long Term Council Community Plan 2009-19. These discussions confirmed for the Council that the major issue going forward is the catch-up programme for infrastructure to ensure the long-term, sustainable delivery of services.
Mr Holmes said it was important that work did not lead to a reduced quality of services or compromise the Council’s ability to meet future growth.
"The year has been one of stabilising established platforms by allocating Council resources where the District will obtain maximum benefit. Although it has been a tough year financially, the Council has continued to deliver services and complete projects that contribute to making Whakatane District a place we can all be proud of. In light of the changed global financial climate, we need to keep focussing solidly on the issues of affordability and value for money" Mr Holmes said.
“All in all it has been an extremely difficult year, but I am satisfied we are making very good progress”.
For further information, please contact Colin Holmes, Mayor, Whakatane District Council, 07 306 0500