By Emily-Rose Toohey
A financial report from 28 February was received and noted at the last Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) meeting.
As stated within council’s information report, this financial report was being presented at the second meeting of the month due to a lack of meaningful payroll and costing information in time for the first meeting.
“This is a combination of February being a 28 day month, the timing of the meeting, and the timing of the payroll cycle,” the report said.
Cr Stephen Tancred said that of the eight departments outlined in the report, three had surplus and three met the budget requirements.
“It’s pleasing to note this, well done,” Cr Tancred said.
As per the report, the following significant variations being investigated include, wage expenses, materials and services, capital grants, and interest income.
“Wages expenses are above budget by 7.4 per cent or $1.2 million,” the report said.
“The biggest contributing factor is the capital wages budget is currently underspent by $3.1 million, indicating a larger than expected proportion of wages has been costed to operational expenses.”
Regarding material and services, the report stated that council is lower than budget by 25.9 per cent.
“This follows a pattern of lower actuals in the first half of the year, the major differences are contractors underspent by $5.6 million and general materials underspent by $2 million,” the report said.
“Revenue from capital grants is over budget by $8.6 million.
“The additional revenue has been recognised as part of the March Budget Review.”
Grant opportunities and the success rate of applications are not always easy to predict, and the timing and associated recognition of payments received is unpredictable.
Cr Ross Bartley echoed this statement at the recent council meeting.
“Interest income is higher than budget due to higher than expected cash balances,” the report said.
As stated in the 28 February 2022 report, the report said that council had $79.3 million in cash at bank and investments.
“This is the largest balance in the available records and is a product of prepaid grants, particularly flood restoration grants and identified capital funding not yet spent,” the report said.
The capital works expenditure is $16.5m, which is 29 per cent of the adopted capital works budget of $57m.
The March budget review proposes that the Capital budget is reduced to $39m.
The motion was moved Cr Tancred, Seconded by Cr Andrew Gale.
