Townsville City Council posts another strong surplus
Date published: 12 December 2017
Townsville City Council is on track to deliver a $6.7 million surplus this financial year, while increasing its investment in local infrastructure and core community services.
The Mid-Year Budget Review, passed by Council today, details a further $9.4 million in savings from reducing employee costs as a result of the organizational restructure. Council has also saved $800,000 on IT services and $600,000 on its vehicle fleet.
Those savings have been re-invested back into the community through programs such as the $2 million Basics Blitz, which funded crews to work seven days a week throughout the suburbs and city to spruce up parks, clean up graffiti and fix water leaks.
The Mid-Year Budget Review also included a massive $246.4 million to be spent on infrastructure, which includes $32 million from the Queensland Government’s Works for Queensland program.
Mayor Jenny Hill said Council had tightened its belt and was able to re-invest back into community services and programs.
“This is an excellent result for Council and we are now in the position where we can increase our investment in local infrastructure projects and core community services because of the strong budget position we are in,” Cr Hill said.
“Our focus is to deliver the best result for ratepayers while improving our service delivery to the community.
“A lot of the heavy lifting to reform Council has been done already and now ratepayers will continue to experience the ongoing benefits from the changes we’ve made.”
Revenue from excess water charges has reduced by $4.6 million as residents cut their water use because of Level 3 restrictions.
Cr Hill praised locals for being water wise during the drought.
“This means that residents aren’t paying for water they haven’t used,” Cr Hill said.
“I’d like to thank everyone for reducing their water use over this extremely dry spell.”
The $6.7 million surplus for 2017-18 includes $6 million that will be carried over to next financial year, with the funding part of the $10 million water transition package provided by the Queensland Government.
