Matt Hewson
Geelong council presented the City’s annual report at the final meeting of the current councillor group.
Following farewells to the three councillors who are not contesting the 2024 election – Bruce Harwood, Jim Mason and Belinda Moloney – Mayor Trent Sullivan presented the City of Greater Geelong’s Annual Report 2023-24 and Annual Report Summary.
In addition to providing an overview of the region and the organisation’s structure, the documents detail the council’s performance in a number of areas, including how well it delivered in its four strategic directions and its financial performance.
The City achieved a completion rate of about 75 per cent across its four strategic directions, with a particularly high success rate in ‘strong local economy’ and ‘high-performing council and organisation’ of 86 per cent.
In the areas of ‘healthy, caring and inclusive community’ and ‘sustainable growth and environment’ the completion rates were 70 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively.
Financially, the City reported a comprehensive result of a $179.9 million surplus, but an operating deficit of $17.6m once a non-recurrent surplus of $99.3m was accounted for.
Rates and charges increased by $19.4m from last year, due to a wider property base and increases to the general waste charge, while grants received by the council decreased by $29.2m, most notable of which was the budgeted-for federal government assistance grant of $24m that arrived in July rather than June.
Employee costs increased by $2.8m, while efficiency measures regarding materials and services helped the council save $19m in those areas.
Mayor Sullivan said the report reflected many of the “great highlights” of the past financial year.
“We have sought to balance our longer term outlook with a desire to meet the current-day needs of the community,” he said.
“There are expectations in the community that we act as efficiently as possible to deliver value to ratepayers, (and) that’s something that I firmly believed we have achieved.
“It’s all about never wishing for perfection but always striving for constant improvement. That’s what we do day after day, year after year, term after term in the City of Greater Geelong.”
