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Long-Term Financial Plan - Endorsed

We are pleased to advise that after community consultation, the Long-Term Financial Plan was adopted by Council at its meeting on 16 February 2021.

Council’s recent decision to adopt our new Long-Term Financial Plan was a watershed moment for the City of Onkaparinga. We’ve put the past behind us, and we’re moving forward as a financially responsible Council. We’ve built a plan that directly reflects where and how the community believes its rates should be spent.

Having a sustainable and clear Long-Term Financial Plan is the cornerstone of good Council financial administration. Our Plan is founded on a suite of 16 principles developed following feedback from the community on service provision, projects, rates, and debt management.

Council staff and elected members have worked hard over seven months to put together a Plan which will make it financially sustainable and more accountable now and into the future.

We have a detailed model which sets out a trajectory for both expenditure of funds, and for reigning in and eliminating debt over the long term. Importantly the Plan will eliminate Council’s deficit over four years, transitioning it to a balanced budget.

It will also reduce its call on long term borrowings to fund future major projects, by applying a new more conservative funding formula and applying greater rigour to decision making. It also recognises the reality that the community expects major projects to be completed, facility and asset upgrades to be undertaken, and our community assets maintained.

Under this Plan, our current services will be maintained, and where clear decisions are made by Council, improved. It recognises that rate increases will need to reflect CPI increases, as our costs go up.

However, any decisions to increase rates beyond CPI will need to be transparently made by Council, informing the community of exactly what those funds will go towards, and ring-fencing them for that use.

So, the community can see where their money is going, and that they get what they paid for.

The full report is now available and contains the engagement outcomes and the Long-Term Financial Plan. Click here to view the report.

Long-Term Financial Plan - Endorsed

We are pleased to advise that after community consultation, the Long-Term Financial Plan was adopted by Council at its meeting on 16 February 2021.

Council’s recent decision to adopt our new Long-Term Financial Plan was a watershed moment for the City of Onkaparinga. We’ve put the past behind us, and we’re moving forward as a financially responsible Council. We’ve built a plan that directly reflects where and how the community believes its rates should be spent.

Having a sustainable and clear Long-Term Financial Plan is the cornerstone of good Council financial administration. Our Plan is founded on a suite of 16 principles developed following feedback from the community on service provision, projects, rates, and debt management.

Council staff and elected members have worked hard over seven months to put together a Plan which will make it financially sustainable and more accountable now and into the future.

We have a detailed model which sets out a trajectory for both expenditure of funds, and for reigning in and eliminating debt over the long term. Importantly the Plan will eliminate Council’s deficit over four years, transitioning it to a balanced budget.

It will also reduce its call on long term borrowings to fund future major projects, by applying a new more conservative funding formula and applying greater rigour to decision making. It also recognises the reality that the community expects major projects to be completed, facility and asset upgrades to be undertaken, and our community assets maintained.

Under this Plan, our current services will be maintained, and where clear decisions are made by Council, improved. It recognises that rate increases will need to reflect CPI increases, as our costs go up.

However, any decisions to increase rates beyond CPI will need to be transparently made by Council, informing the community of exactly what those funds will go towards, and ring-fencing them for that use.

So, the community can see where their money is going, and that they get what they paid for.

The full report is now available and contains the engagement outcomes and the Long-Term Financial Plan. Click here to view the report.

  • February Update

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    08 Feb 2021

    In total, 924 residents and rate payers completed the survey, sharing perspectives on service provision, debt, rates and financial strategy, and the personal impacts of COVID-19.

    An initial analysis of the survey was presented to elected members at a workshop on 19 January to help with the review of our Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP).

    This was followed by a report to the Strategic Directions Committee on Tuesday night (see agenda here) where 15 key principles underpinning the final modelling for the LTFP were recommended. The report shows how the survey results helped inform the principles, so your feedback made a real difference.

    The Strategic Directions Committee endorsed the 15 principles, along with an additional (16th) principle, as detailed in the minutes of the meeting here (see item 7.4).