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FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT APRIL 2026

Financial Services Manager, Zach Morton-Adair · Financial Services | Corporate Services Department

Executive summary

To meet its monthly reporting obligations under section 204 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 (the Regulation), a monthly financial report is to be provided to Council for its information. This report complies with section 204 of the Regulation, providing Council with a report on its financial performance to 30 April 2026 against its Revised Budget for the 2025/26 financial year as adopted by Council on 19 February 2026. At 30 April 2026, Council had a favourable Net Result variance to budget of $9.6m, with $3.2m of this variance attributable to Council's operating result and a further $6.4m derived from Council's capital funding sources. The favourable financial position largely reflects the capital works delivery timing, capital grant receipts, and project accounting treatments, rather than changes to Council’s underlying operating position. Capital expenditure remains below profile at this stage of the year, with a portion of this variance attributable to project timing, disaster recovery program completion, and the review and reclassification of work-in-progress balances. Rates and utility charge arrears continue to track within historical norms, following the expected post-levy cycle. At 30 April 2026, noting the impacts of higher than anticipated operating and capital revenue streams and the timing of the delivery of the capital works program, there are no identified financial risks that will negatively impact Council's forecasted financial position at 30 June 2026. Due to the net impact of timing variations in the delivery of the 2025/26 Capital Works Program and a higher-than-forecast cash and cash equivalents balance at 30 June 2025, it is forecast Council will have a higher cash balance at 30 June 2026 than that reported in the Revised Budget adopted by Council on 19 February 2026. In this context, consideration will be given to whether the Council-approved borrowings of $3.1 million are required to be drawn.

Recommendation

That Council note the report by the Revenue Services Manager and Financial Services Manager to the Ordinary Meeting dated 21 May 2026 regarding Council's financial performance to 30 April 2026.

Report

Operating Revenue At 30 April 2026, Council had received $147.6m or 96.2% of its operating revenue budget of $153.4m with detailed commentary on major variances outlined in the following table.

Operating Expenditure At 30 April 2026, actual operating expenditure was $124.5m or 81.2% of the full year budget of $153.3m with detailed commentary on major variances outlined in the following table. Major materials and services variances by financial statement category (as reported in Council's audited financial statements) to 30 April 2026 are detailed in the following table. The differences in commentary between the two tables in relation to materials and services is due to the utilisation of different selection codes within Council's financial system in order to comply with our external reporting obligations. In the last week of April 2026, Council officers commenced the recording of the impact of the Middle East Conflict (the Conflict) on Council's materials and services. In the last week of April an additional $4k of expenditure was directly attributable to the Conflict. These costs will now be reported to Council on a monthly basis. As yet, the budgetary impact of increasing fuel costs for Council's fleet and plant is yet to be realised against profiled budgets, with the higher than anticipated fleet costs noted above largely attributable to the external hire of plant and equipment $0.1m.

Tourism and Economic Development Investment Council resolved to report on a monthly basis, investment details for tourism and economic development. Expenditure on Tourism and Economic Development activities to 30 April 2026 is outlined in the below table. Details on specific project expenditures within the Tourism and Economic Development cost centres are outlined in the following table.

Capital Revenue Capital revenue of $24.3m received to 30 April 2026 comprises cash contributions from developers of $2.3m and capital grants and subsidies of $21.9m, with the timing of capital grant and subsidy receipts generally dependent on the timing of grant conditions and capital works delivery. The timing of the receipt of developer contributions (both cash and contributed assets) remains unpredictable. A comparison of actual capital grants and subsidies received to 30 April 2026 by capital works program compared to the current 2025/26 whole year budget is outlined in the following table. In line with the approved recovery programs for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years, Council officers are now not anticipating to receive any further recovery payments in the 2025/26 financial year. As indicated above, the receipt of the remaining outstanding grants and subsidies remains dependent upon the completion of the balance of the 2025/26 capital works program. Major capital grants and subsidies received to 30 April 2026 by project are outlined in the following table.

Capital Expenditure At 30 April 2026, actual capital expenditure (excluding commitments) was $31.8m or 39.3% of Council's $80.8m revised capital works program. As shown in the following table, when this expenditure is adjusted to exclude $4.6m of other capital expenses associated with the write off of assets, loan redemption payments of $1.9m and contributed assets, actual capital expenditure was $25.3m or 32.3% of the revised capital budget of $78.1m as outlined in the following table. Of the total year to date capital expenditure outlined above, $2.3m relates to disaster recovery works. In line with the approved recovery programs for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years, Council officers are now not anticipating any further significant recovery program expenditure in the 2025/26 financial year. The recovery program has a current year budget of $29.3m. Other Capital Expenses of $4.6 million, as disclosed in the attachments, represent the partial value of capital projects that have either been written off following the end of their useful lives in accordance with standard asset management practices, or relate to projects currently under review as part of Council’s assessment of its work-in-progress balance. For comparative and discussion purposes, the following graphs present base capital expenditure and project staged completion to 31 March 2026, as most recently reported to the Capital Works Executive Committee. These graphs are intended to visually support and complement the information outlined in this report and reflect the same trends disclosed in Attachment 5. Detailed discussion of the progress of the capital works program is also provided through a separate quarterly report by the Infrastructure Team.

Cash Management and Investment Performance Total cash on hand at the end of April 2026 was $146.7m, with $7.0m of this balance held in trust. Of the total cash balance at 30 June 2025 of $125.4m, $30.7m was externally restricted for items such as unexpended levy funds with a further $25.3m internally restricted for items such as disaster management, waste management and future asset replacement. The mix of Council's external and internal restricted cash will be reviewed during the compilation of Council's 2025/26 Financial Statements and 2026/27 Budget. A summary of Council's investments at 30 April 2026 is outlined in the following table. Council's investments continue to perform well against agreed benchmarks with a summary of Council investment performance to the end of April 2026 outlined in the following table (rolling 6 monthly performance) and graph. Noting abovementioned commentary around the financial delivery of the capital works program and grants and subsidies received to date, since 30 April 2025, Council's total cash holdings have increased by $25.6m or 21.1%. Excluding interest on overdue rates and utility charges, at 30 April 2026, Council had received $6.5m ($1.8m from Associate - Unitywater) in interest from its investments.

Rates and Utility Charges - Rate Arrears As outlined in the following table, at 30 April 2026 Council's outstanding rates and utility charges totalled $7.4m or 7.8% of Council's rates and utility charges base, with the decrease in outstanding rates and charges from March 2026 ($11.5m or 9.7%).

  • Estimated 2025/26 revenue is based on July 2025 levy revenue multiplied by two, rounded to the nearest million dollars. Rate arrears balances follow a predictable six-monthly cycle, increasing after the July and January levy periods, and decreasing in the months that follow.

Measures of Financial Sustainability As previously reported to Council, reporting of financial sustainability ratio performance will now occur in September, December, March and June of each financial year.

Report details

Index: ECM/Subject/22.09 Monthly Financial Performance Reporting