Townsville City Council is a step closer to delivering an operational surplus ahead of schedule as Council handed down its 2024/25 Mid-Year Budget review at today's Ordinary Council meeting.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the organisation had faced some hard truths as a new Council in the past twelve months, but through a combination of reforms and strategic efficiencies Council had improved its operational position by more than $5 million in just seven months.
"As a new Council we're realigning our focus on how we can best serve and deliver for our community in the most cost-effective ways, while still growing Townsville," Cr Greaney said.
"Part of that has been acknowledging the fact we weren't in the best position financially and taking a step back to refocus on how we can give our community the service they deserve while finding efficiencies within the organisation.
"There has been a huge focus internally, looking at how we can be more innovative when it comes to stretching each dollar to give ratepayers the best bang for buck.
"Not only have we improved our operating deficit by $5.3 million, to $19.5 million, but so far the team have found $1.4 million through a number of organisational reforms and efficiencies. This is just the beginning of a major reform effort to identify better and more efficient ways to serve our community, with further savings and service improvements still to come.
"We're certainly not immune to increased operating expenses such as labour costs, the scarcity of materials, supply chain disruptions and the cost of fuel, and at budget adoption we firmly stated we could not take on the burden of the increased costs of doing business without passing onto the ratepayer anymore.
"We have put everything under the microscope to find efficiencies."
The adopted budget operating revenue is $515.2 million compared to a mid-year review budget forecast of $518.6 million, with the forecast increase mainly due to an increase in commercial waste.
"Despite the challenges, our capital program continues to move forward, which is all part of our plan for future service delivery requirements and creating economic growth in the capital of North Queensland," Cr Greaney said.
"By investing heavily in delivering our core services in the 2024/25 budget, I truly believe that kind of investment has helped our region fare as well as it could, off the back of recent severe weather.
"We've made some hard decisions, and the hard work isn't over yet, but I think as a Council we're going in the right direction to financial sustainability while delivering for our city and continuing to grow Townsville."
Download the Mid-Year Budget Review on the Corporate Information page.
