Chief Executive explains council finances: It is all a matter of public record - 8/02/2010

Mr Ross was responding to comments attributed to Cr Rob Vinsen (Wanganui Chronicle, 8 February 2010) about council finances and debt.

“The headline in the Chronicle referred to an ‘unveiling’. That implies something has been hidden. As public bodies, all councils are subject to intense financial scrutiny by the public and our auditors.

“The figures in the Chronicle article were all provided to councillors during the 10-Year Plan 2009-2019 deliberations and most are published in the plan itself. No updates on our projected finances will be available until the Draft Annual Plan 2010/11 is published for public consultation in late March.”

Mr Ross agreed with Cr Vinsen’s statement that about $20 million a year is required to maintain infrastructure.

“Council does need $20 million a year to keep our infrastructure up to standard – and on average we have budgeted $20.4 million per year in the 10-Year Plan. That plan, and our asset management plan, has been approved by Audit New Zealand.

“Part of the work the auditors did was to ensure the 10-Year Plan includes enough money to maintain the infrastructure if we provide our planned level of service. The Audit report in the plan states that in the auditors’ opinion the plan ‘provides a reasonable basis for long-term integrated decision making’.”

The debt for purchasing the Wanganui Gas shares belongs to Wanganui District Council Holdings Ltd, not to the council.

“The council made a unanimous decision in 2006 to support the purchase of the remaining 24.9% of Wanganui Gas and the decision was widely applauded by both the ‘Chronicle’ and the community. At that time, the consultant professional and accounting advice that the council received was that it was a sound investment.

“In addition, council has already indicated that because of substantial changes in the roading allocation from government, and because of the commitment to stand behind Wanganui Gas, our debt is likely to be higher because of events that have happened only recently but have been publicly flagged.”

Mr Ross noted that Cr Vinsen has not made any Official Information Act requests about public debt since April 2008.

In its Community Link page in the Wanganui Chronicle this week, the council will publish in easily understandable form the debt projections (total and per capita) for the current financial year and the next decade, plus comparisons with other councils.

This information was publicly tabled at the most recent Council meeting but was not published by the ‘Chronicle’.