Waipa books in good shape
09 September 2015Waipa District Council has ended the financial year with less debt than forecast.
The Council's 2014/15 audited annual report shows total debt is $13 million instead of the $24 million outlined in the 2015-2025 10-Year Plan.
Chief financial officer Ken Morris said a number of factors contributed to the lower debt, including higher than forecast fees paid by developers. But the extra fees were not a windfall; it was simply an issue of timing, he said.
Development fees help pay for infrastructure like roads and water systems which are needed for developments to proceed and so are linked directly to projects. We had budgeted $2.9 million in development fees but received $5.8 million mainly because of the higher than expected growth in Cambridge north, Morris said.
There was also a jump in revenue from fees and charges, largely driven by the increase in building consents issued to new home builders.
More than 1000 building consents were lodged with Waipa District Council in the last financial year.
Morris said during the year the Council had made savings in staff costs of more than $500,000 as well as savings in capital projects.
By managing money carefully and reducing debt we saved $250,000 in interest payments and earned an additional $260,000 from interest income. Overall, our Council has ended the year in a strong financial position that many councils might envy, he said.
Waipa has continued to maintain a prudent financial approach to managing its business. Ensuring it operates with the right levels of cash while appropriately managing debt would continue to be a priority, Morris said.
Our cash balances are $11.5 million so we go into the first year of our 10-Year Plan in very good shape.
We have comfortably met all of the various benchmark limits and requirements put in place to measure the financial health of all councils in New Zealand. In most cases, we met them with headroom to spare which is an indication of the financial strength of our organisation.
Council ended the year with a general funds cash surplus of $448,000 after making provision for a small number of carry forward and other items. This money will be held in reserve in case it is needed in the 2015/16 year. If not, it will be used to reduce next year's rates.
Waipa District Council's total revenue for the 2014-2015 year was $80.4 million. The Council ended the financial year with net assets of nearly $1.3 billion mainly in land, buildings and major roading and water infrastructure.
The annual report will be discussed at the Council's Finance and Corporate Committee meeting next Tuesday (September 15).
All media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of council) 027 5077 599