City of Wanneroo.
Camera IconCity of Wanneroo. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Wanneroo Council adopts annual report

Lucy JarvisWanneroo Times

WANNEROO Council has adopted its 2018-19 annual report ahead of the electors AGM next week.

The report outlined highlights and challenges face by the City last financial year, and its performance in meeting action targets.

It’s financial snapshot said the City had an operating surplus of $9.6 million and revenue had increased by 3.9 per cent, or $7.4 million, to $196.1 million.

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It said the rates and waste service charge, which represented 82.3 per cent of total revenue, increased by 6.4 per cent to $161.4 million, with $30.4 million of that from waste service fees.

City of Wanneroo operating revenue by type in 2018-19.
Camera IconCity of Wanneroo operating revenue by type in 2018-19. Credit: Supplied/Lucy Jarvis

Another 5.7 per cent of revenue came from grants, subsidies or contributions, 6.6 per cent came from fees and charges, and 5.1 per cent came from interest earnings.

Operating expenses increased by 6.3 per cent, or $11.1 million, to $186.5 million, and spending on capital projects increased by 9.6 per cent, or $5.1 million, to $58.2 million.

The City of Wanneroo 2018-19 Annual Report.
Camera IconThe City of Wanneroo 2018-19 Annual Report. Credit: Supplied/Lucy Jarvis

In her message, Mayor Tracey Roberts said highlights of the year included the first Wandjoo event in Jindalee, and citizenship ceremonies, with 785 residents taking the citizenship pledge at the 2019 Australia Day ceremony and 942 people overall becoming citizens at 12 ceremonies throughout the year.

Mrs Roberts also highlighted the Yanchep Lagoon Master Plan as an achievement and work done to create more parks and plant more trees.

She said the City had secured federal funding for several projects during the 2019 election campaign, and welcomed investment in transport infrastructure such as the Mitchell Freeway extension, road upgrades and rail to Yanchep.

Chief executive Daniel Simms said Wanneroo was one of WA’s largest growing local government areas, with forecast increases of 4500 people a year.

“This growth is projected to continue, with the population forecast to exceed 412,000 by 2041,” he said.

Mr Simms said the City had completed 87 per cent of the annual actions set out in its corporate business plan for the year, and met its 30 per cent target for purchase orders from local businesses.

He said the City received 49,968 customer requests for service, responding to 95 per cent within target timeframes with an average response time of seven days.

“We saw a significant decrease in complaints to the City from the previous year (218 in 2018-19 compared with 365 in 2017-18) and a corresponding increase in compliments (154 in 2018-19 compared with 61 in 2017-18),” he said.

After adopting the annual report at a special council meeting on December 3, the council adopted the annual audited financial statements to June 30, 2019.

City of Wanneroo operating revenue over the past five years.
Camera IconCity of Wanneroo operating revenue over the past five years. Credit: Supplied/Lucy Jarvis

Councillors also unanimously approved a a recommendation relating to issues highlighted by the 2018-19 audit report.

That report identified the City was not compliant with standards for the current ratio and asset sustainability ratio set by the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries.

Similar to the 2018 report, it found the current ratio of 0.8:1 was lower than the benchmark of 1:1, which could mean a local government did not have sufficient assets that could quickly be converted to cash to meet cash commitments.

However, the City argued it had managed its payment commitments without any recorded delays in payments to creditors or staff.

It said while it did not meet department guidelines, the City had chosen to allocate funds to reserves which helped “smoother general rate rises or declines in the future”.

The council asked Mr Simms to give the Local Government Minister a report explaining those reasons.

The electors AGM is due to be held on December 9 from 6pm at the Wanneroo Civic Centre.

Visit www.wanneroo.wa.gov.au for more information.

City of Wanneroo operating expenses by type in 2018-19.
Camera IconCity of Wanneroo operating expenses by type in 2018-19. Credit: Supplied/Lucy Jarvis