simple evidence - Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association

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simple evidence …

Last month the association highlighted an interview broadcast by ABC Radio South East with LSI Consultants, productivity specialists who have analysed the performance of 128 NSW Councils based on their own adopted & published Financial Statements, during which it offered a damning assessment of council, revealing that its performance has declined significantly over the past five years to 2019.

The LSI findings confirmed the basis of the association’s core criticism of council’s financial management, which is simply its inability or wilful refusal to cut its cloth according to its measure.

This week the association published further evidence of council's financial mismanagement, based on its latest forecast of an $8.9M deficit for 2021 which, if it proves accurate, would mean that the current council has managed to produce $18.5M in total net operating deficits during its term in office (including a small surplus of $1.5M for 2020, reported this week).

The scale of council’s financial mismanagement is further highlighted when taking account of the fact that council has received more than $35M in un-budgeted & untied operating grants over its period in office so far.

The association believes that it is fair to speculate that without the additional income, council may well have recorded in excess of $50M in total net operating deficits during its term in office to-date.

The association also believes that while there are many residents in the Bega Valley who understand council’s finances better than the elected council & its senior management, unfortunately others are often confused & turned-off by the complexity & meaning of council’s financial activities & reports.

The association has now received further information from LSI which validates the association’s core criticism of council’s financial mismanagement through a simple & easily understood analysis.

LSI has provided the association with an analysis of council’s Expenditure vs its Income from 2015 to 2019.

As is clearly demonstrated in the graph supplied by LSI, the council’s Expenditure compared to its Income skyrocketed between 2015 & 2019, with the previous council spending $1 for every $1.14 it received in Income in 2015, while the current council managed to spend $1.08 for every $1 received in Income in 2019.

The LSI data offers further simple evidence of council’s financial mismanagement that every resident of the Bega Valley can relate to in the context of their private lives, particularly should they spend beyond their means.

To compound the problem for ratepayers, council has provided no evidence that it is pursuing an effective strategy to rectify its situation, other than to issue crude warnings of council experiencing financial difficulties & its intention to “review” service levels.

As previously stated, the association believes that the only meaningful service that the current council can perform for the residents & ratepayers of the Bega Valley is to resign, but only after insisting that council’s general manager should stand down.

John Richardson

Secretary/Treasurer

Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association

Tel: 0264945669

Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au

Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au