Matt Hewson
The City of Greater Geelong has recorded an operating surplus for the 2022-23 financial year of $4.686 million, as shown in audited financial statements approved by the council this week.
While the surplus shows a significant turnaround from the $8 million deficit forecast earlier in the year, deputy mayor Anthony Aitken warned it did not signal a chance to backtrack the council’s recent policies of austerity.
The financial report, reviewed by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office and approved by council at a special meeting on Tuesday night, showed that savings measures implemented by the council had a positive impact of over $6 million, while an additional $8.6 million of Federal Assistance grants had arrived earlier than expected.
“It really is important… to stress, (while) people may look at the bottom line figure showing that it’s a $4.6 million surplus, the reality is that our underlying operations are actually running out of deficit,” Cr Aitkin said.
“The $4.6 million surplus came from very hard and tough decisions that the Council Group made in consultation with the former acting CEO (Kaarina Phyland), and that delivered $6.2 million worth of savings.
“And we did receive additional… grant income from the Federal Government as well. If those activities had not occurred in the last five months of this financial year, we actually would be announcing a deficit tonight.”
Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan reiterated work would continue to ensure the City’s financial sustainability.
“Whilst we have a slight operating income, a lot of this is due to funds received earlier than expected,” Mayor Sullivan said.
“( $4.6 million) is slight compared to our overall budget; less than one per cent. This definitely doesn’t come through as a year of feast.
“We all know costs are rising from a variety of things. Doing business is costing more for everybody; organisations, households, businesses, councils as well.
“This money must be spent wisely and must be a part of our future sustainability projects as well. We must move forward with the plan that has been well thought out.”
The financial results and performance statement will be published in the City’s annual report, which will be released later this year.
