Wollongong’s ratepayers forked out an extra $6.9 million in rates and charges in 2017/18, however loss of other revenue saw council’s total income for the financial year fall by almost $10 million.
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This included a $2.7 million reduction in user fees and charges, which was mainly due to less use of Whytes Gully Waste Facility by major commercial customers.
Decreased contributions due to less subdivision dedications; and a reduction in grants also impacted revenue according to council’s draft financial statements.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the reduction in income was mainly due to the timing of Financial Assistance Grants from the Federal Government. A full-year grant was received in 2017/18 compared to one-and-a-half years grant in 2016/17.
“The real issue was own source operating ratio and we’re funding ourselves at 77.6 per cent, so we’re doing fairly well in managing our own destiny in that respect,” Cr Bradbery said.
The figures also revealed that while income fell by nearly $10 million (to $314.7 million) compared to 2016/17 figures – expenses crept up last financial year by almost $11 million (to $266 million).
Staff accounted for around 40 per cent of costs, with wages and benefits rising from $103.1 million in 2016/17 to $107.8 million in 2017/18. The cost of materials and contracts also rose from $47 million to $53.7 million.
“We’ll never be able to meet all the expectations of the city but we’re putting a lot more focus upon things like roads, footpaths and cycleways – these are the big spend areas for our city,” Cr Bradbery said.
“We’ve got a relatively small pie – around $314 million in turnover – to service a large quantity of assets – around $2.5 billion worth of assets.”
The annual statements also revealed a slight decrease in income from parking meters – which still brought in $1.2 million; while drivers paid the city $2.3 million in parking fines.
“We are continually monitoring and managing our parking spaces,” Cr Bradbery said. “The parking meters offset the cost of managing all our parking areas.”
Almost $4 million was made from recreational assets in 2017/18, while council tourist parks brought in $6.9 million.
“Tourists parks are under better management and council is getting a better return on those assets,” Cr Bradbery said. “It also reflects increased tourism – occupancy rates at our tourist parks are well up.”
The statements will be considered at next Monday’s council meeting.
