Shoalhaven City Council has in recent years faced challenges in the preparation of a sustainable Long Term Financial Plan that meets the Office of the Local Government performance indicators. Over the past five years, the Council has experienced consecutive disasters – most notably COVID pandemic, bushfires and floodings which has impacted significantly only the normal business operations, including asset maintenance and asset renewal programs, as well as impacting upon the availability of cash.
The development of the adopted Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) in 2022 was undertaken with a lower level of confidence than otherwise would be sought and an acknowledgement that a review of the Council’s financial sustainability was necessary before the Council could consider and adopt in confidence a revised Long Term Financial Plan that would deliver a sustainable future.
The following is an extract from the adopted LTFP highlighting uncertainty in budget setting – Council continues to operate in the context of uncertainty with recent historical budgets being adopted with some flexibility and requiring a dynamic budget to ensure that the levels of service provided to the community remain unchanged with opportunities for expansion to be considered as and when the uncertainty decreases.
The primary objective of the Financial Sustainability Review therefore was to assess the long-term sustainability of the Council’s current financial settings and direction, identify key drivers and determinants of future sustainability and facilitate the development of an improved sustainable long-term financial plan with strategies to avert potential issues from emerging in the future.
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