On January 30, an extraordinary meeting was held by Yass Valley Council which saw a recommendation that would backtrack on a much more comprehensive resolution from the 18th of November 2024, regarding Council’s financial position. It has left one Councillor fuming (Adrian Cameron) and social media on fire with residents questioning the decision across local forums and at many opportunities where they tag Councillors and demand answers. At its meeting on 28 November 2024, Council resolved that a scope be developed, then quotes be sought from a list of suitable consultants and a procurement process be undertaken in accordance with Council policy. The scope was to conduct an on-the-ground assessment into Council’s financial information which informs the financial statements to verify Council’s true financial situation. According to Council, since the December Council meeting, they have been provided with additional information which better advises Council of their financial position. Upon further review of the scope, it was considered by Council that this information had been provided to Councillors via financial briefings, (briefings not made available to the public) and ultimately would not provide Council a value for money outcome as it would duplicate work undertaken to address the financial sustainability challenge to date.
Council say to address the financial sustainability issues, work is currently underway as part of the second quarter budget review to address short-term budget deficits by reducing operating and capital projects and expenditure. This will be considered by Council at its meeting in February 2025.
However, with a payout for the former CEO in the vicinity of more than $200,000 based on the standard local government contract for such a position, Council has already burned through a large amount of money which was un budgeted for.
Councillor Adrian Cameron (pictured) was the only Councillor to vote against the resolution which would have seen Council’s interest in a more forensic approach in to looking at Council’s finances, stating, “I’m disappointed to find myself here today at an extraordinary meeting. I don’t know why an extraordinary meeting needed to be called as far as I am concerned….. “So we find ourselves back here because basically Yass Valley Council is yet to implement this motion…..It’s taken two months to do effectively a little bit of work on the scope which I thought was quite reasonable, but we haven’t done anything about getting people in to have a look at our financial affairs.” “If it had been implemented in a timely manner, which is the important consideration as per the Local Government Act, this completed review could have been presented to our February Council and importantly provide a basis for our new CFO and CEO going forward into the future and dealing with the issues that the mover of the motion talks about…… “At this stage I don’t think we are really in the situation of knowing exactly where we are at.” “From my point of view this Council has demonstrated its inability to make and implement this clear decision. We had a job to do and I stress that we had a job to do, supported by all Councillors and we have just failed to do it. “In my mind this is a complete breach of trust of the Yass Valley community.”
Council ultimately decided on the following resolution which was moved by Councillors Carter and Charry. Councillor Cameron was the only Councillor to vote against. “The original motion passed by Council on 28 November 2024 concerning the Financial Statement Review concerning conducting an ‘on-the-ground assessment into Council’s financial information which informs the financial statements to verify Council’s true financial situation’ be set aside. That the Council seek advice on the appropriate methodologies to ensure correct internal allocation of costs between various services and funds (such as Water, Waste and Sewer), and that the Council seek advice on how to improve its handling of grant revenue to reduce errors in its internal financial accounting processes. It was also decided that Council executive seek agreement from our contracted CFO services to release the report from December 18 financial presentation.”
It’s local government 101 for senior staff and Councillors to understand how they must charge for services and spend funds in those services in the areas mentioned, including Water, Waste and Sewer. It looks as though Yass Council is in for some tough times ahead. Residents can expect a fire sale of land assets or a Special Rate Variation (SRV) by Council in an attempt to balance the books. If an SRV was to be proposed, it must be lodged with the Office of Local Government by November this year and wouldn’t come in until the following year.
If the Office of Local Government (OLG) is not happy with improvements during this time period, Councillors could find themselves relieved of their duties and an Administrator put in their place. Surrounding Council’s have successfully applied for SRVs, including
Queanbeyan-Palerang which will increase 18% each year for three years, however, this has severely impacted many residents during the current cost of living crisis and has been well documented.