Invercargill City Council has met more performance measures in the 2022/23 financial year than the previous year, the newly released Annual Report shows.
The Annual Report for the financial year ending 30 June 2023 was adopted at an Extraordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday.
The Annual Report outlines Council’s financial position and performance for the 2022-2023 financial year, measured against key goals set out in the Long-term Plan 2021-2031.
Group Manager Finance and Assurance Patricia Christie said Council successfully delivered 71 of 99 performance measures for the year, an increase from 63 of 99 in the previous financial year.
“We achieved a lot in this financial year, including the completion of the work to Anderson House and the finish of City Streets stage one, Esk and Don streets. While discussions are ongoing about stage two, I don’t think I am alone in saying stage one has really transformed our city.”
The 2022/23 financial period was another big year for capital delivery, with $52 million spent. Over the past two years, Council has invested $99.5m in capital projects, more than was delivered between 2018 and 2021 in total.
While Council’s asset position was stable, it was reporting an operating loss of $10.8 million, a decrease of $17.3m on 2022.
“This deficit was not a surprise to us as it was something we had forecasted in our quarterly reporting. Asset inflation has significantly increased our asset value, which in turn increased depreciation expense. We have been managing our expenditure accordingly.”
“Looking ahead, we are now focusing on returning to a balanced budget while still ensuring we can deliver projects we know the community is keen for, such as the build of our new museum.”
Christie said she was pleased with what had been achieved in the last financial year and she was looking forward to seeing what other milestones would be reached in the next year.
The Council Group has reported a deficit after tax of $51.2m. This included a reduction in the value of the investment in Invercargill Central Ltd held by Invercargill City Holdings Ltd.
“Again, this doesn’t come as a surprise as it was something we anticipated when we originally invested in the inner city development and was something we saw in the Invercargill City Holdings Ltd Annual Report too.
“Council’s decision to invest in Invercargill Central Ltd was not one made for commercial benefit, but rather community benefit. We knew we’d need to hold this investment for a long time.”
Invercargill City Holding Ltd has invested a total of $43.2m in Invercargill Central Ltd to date.
The 2022/2023 Annual Report can be found in the Council agenda here icc.govt.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023-10-31-Council-Agenda.pdf.
