Council vows to address financial issues

Berri Barmera Council posted a significant operating deficit for the 2023/24 financial year and CEO Tim Pfeiffer acknowledged the organisation was facing some “financial headwinds”.

"Our end of year financials are the result of numerous factors, including long-standing legacy issues, accounting corrections and budget overspend – partly resulting from flood recovery which continues to impact Council operations,” he said.

“The administration will closely consider the efficiency and effectiveness of Council’s operations and financial practices to begin addressing these matters.”

Historic depreciation issues accounted for $3 million of the deficit.

Asset Management Plans must be reviewed every four years and asset revaluations must be every three to five years.

At Berri Barmera Council, some Asset Management Plans and asset revaluations were last updated nine years ago, without inflation being applied in the meantime.

The second major factor was the timing of the payment of the Federal Government’s Financial Assistance Grants, which are currently $2.9 million per annum.

Across Australia, these grants have been predominantly pre-paid to councils for many years, however in 2023/24 it reverted to being paid in the correct year, leading to the artificial inflation of the deficit.

An additional $1.7 million of the deficit related to a range of overspends, with the largest portion attributed to ongoing flood recovery operations.

Berri Barmera Mayor Ella Winnall said elected members and the community were frustrated with the legacy issues.

“Elected members have been asking questions and raising issues for many years now and we are glad the new leadership within current administration is taking transparency and accountability seriously in providing answers to longstanding questions,” she said.

“A deep review of Council’s services, assets, expenses and income is long overdue and I think the community expect that to be done as part of Council’s regular business.

“We need to look at our own operations and accounting practices first instead of always leaning on the ratepayer to address the issues.”

Mayor Winnall said she has full confidence in Council’s administration to work through the financial issues.

“The Council and the administration are absolutely committed to improving Council’s position so we can deliver strong outcomes for the community in the most efficient and effective way,” she said.

“We’ll be working incredibly hard over coming months and years to get the financial future of the Council where it needs to be.”