February 25, 2016
The South Burnett Regional Council is temporarily short of cash after paying contractors working on the water and wastewater plants $2.5 million in progress payments … at least, in theory.
Finance Portfolio chair Cr Keith Campbell told Wednesday’s Council meeting the benchmark for holding cash to cover the Council’s Funded Long Term Liabilities was 60 per cent.
But at the moment – because of the progress payments – the Council’s ratio was 4 per cent lower at 56 per cent.
Cr Campbell said this was nothing to be particularly concerned about.
With the discount date for third quarter rates payments looming on March 1, he expected the $6.5 million cash injection they would produce will restore the benchmark within a week.
He said all other key financial ratios – cash, operating cash and working capital – were currently sitting between 10 per cent and 300 per cent above recommended benchmarks.
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To date the Council has achieved 67 per cent of its projected annual revenues, and spent 55 per cent of its projected annual expenditure.
Employee costs are also within budget, Cr Campbell said.
However expenditure on materials and services will be reviewed in the third quarter Operating Budget review.
Cr Campbell also noted that actual year to date capital expenditure is $26.8 million.
This is 47.4 per cent of the $56.5 million in the revised 2015-2016 capital expenditure budget.
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The South Burnett Regional Council now manages $931 million in community assets.
The Council’s total debt is $62 million, which is made up of $10 million in current liabilities and $52 million in non-current liabilities ($40 million in loans, the remainder in provisions).
This represents a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.6 per cent.
