Council's draft figures for financial year 2021/22 will be sent to an external auditor at a cost of $85,600 but council's CEO Anthony McMahon told the October 19 council meeting the auditors had requested an extension of time.
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This was because council - like some other 60 councils in NSW - had refused to include Rural Fire Service assets in their accounts.
In August council agreed to write to the Auditor General advising that notwithstanding any overtures of future qualified audits, it would not carry out RFS stocktakes on behalf of the NSW Government and would not record RFS assets in Bega Valley Shire Council's financial statements, noting that the State Government's own Local Government Accounting Code of Practice and Financial Reporting provided for councils to determine whether or not they recorded RFS assets as council assets.
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Mr McMahon said because of the decision, the auditors had asked for more time to assess the impact.
"We think we're being unfairly targeted by being asked to account for assets that are not ours and then getting a black mark against our name," Mr McMahon said in reference to the threat of a qualified audit.
However he said the audit would be completed before the time when council needed to submit its financial documents in support of a special rate variation.
Council has talked about the need for a 35 per cent increase on the general rate which if approved would come into effect July 1, 2023.
The mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said that going forward council really had some problems, despite the more positive figures for 2021/22.
Mr McMahon said the net operating result for the 2021/22 year before grants and contributions provided for capital purposes had been expected to be a deficit of $1.5m but instead was a surplus of almost $15m.
He attributed this to the early receipt of $16m in grants which included an advance payment of the Financial Assistance Grant of $6,141,913.
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Denise Dion
Regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW. Contact me on 0418 213 780 or at denise.dion@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW. Contact me on 0418 213 780 or at denise.dion@austcommunitymedia.com.au
