18 February 2013

Council reports budget surplus for second quarter

The Palmerston North City Council has recorded a favourable operating position of $1million for the first six months of the 2012/13 financial year.

Chief executive Paddy Clifford said the favourable result is welcome however significant challenges lie ahead such as the Wastewater Action Plan.

“Continued pressures on services and uncertain revenue mean we remain focussed on making savings wherever possible. We anticipate the second half of the financial year will again be dominated by subdued growth hence we are continuing to strive towards meeting allocated operating budget.

Chief financial officer Grant Elliott said the lower level of expenses than predicted needs to be considered in the context of the whole year.

“We remain confident that the full year controllable operating budget will be achieved. To date there have been no adverse weather events and therefore lower expenses have been incurred. These savings are likely to be utilised in the second half of the financial year. We need to continue focussing on restricting spending and looking for the most economical way to deliver our services”.

Financial accountant Keith Allan told Councillors at this afternoon’s Finance and Performance Committee meeting that overall indicators continue to point to improving business confidence. This has assisted in reducing debt below that at 30 June 2012 with development contributions exceeding that budgeted.

The year’s Capital Expenditure programme has seen $7.2million incurred in the year to date against a budget of $12million. The overall capital programme budget for the year is $32million however due to delays in commencing programmes this is unlikely to all be incurred in the current financial year.

Copies of the Quarterly Financial Report can be found in the Finance and Performance Committee Agenda at pncc.govt.nz.

ENDS

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