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Wodonga Council Strategic Resource Plan provides long-term planning
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Posted: 11/05/2009
WODONGA Council's draft Strategic Resource Plan (SRP), released tonight in conjunction with the 2009-2010 budget, will provide the council with a long-term view of its financial status.
Chief executive officer Gavin Cator said the SRP, a requirement under the Local Government Act, would prove an invaluable tool for the community, council and staff.
“The SRP will enable us to review the existing range and level of services we provide to the community and plan for the future,” he said.
“Our goal as an organisation is to ensure we have long-term financial sustainability and it is necessary to have careful planning in place to make sure this happens.
“Our community has made it clear that it wants us to focus on reducing our debt level, which is one of the key aims of the SRP, as well as achieving operating statement surpluses with the exclusion of all non-operational items such as granted assets and capital income.”
Mr Cator said while the council would continue to pursue recurrent grant funding for strategic capital funds from the State and Federal governments, it was important that the council did not rely on these for its financial security.
“The SRP meets all our goals by following the principles of sound and responsible financial management,” he said.
“These include the prudent management of financial risks relating to debt, assets and liabilities, increasing operating revenue devoted to capital expenditure, providing for the reasonable stability in the level of rates, considering the financial effects of council decisions on future generations and ensuring that there is accurate and timely disclosure of financial information available to the community.”
Mr Cator said the full analysis provided through the SRP would ensure the community could be more informed about the financial challenges the council faced, as well as how these challenges will be met.
“Globally and locally, there are many pressures on organisations to take a more responsible approach to financial planning and we are pleased that the SRP meets our community's call for more transparent and responsible reporting of our financial status,” he said.
“I would encourage all members of the community to examine the SRP and provide us with feedback.”
The SRP is available for download by clicking here:
