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The Dunedin City Council's balance sheet for the past financial year was given a tick by Audit New Zealand yesterday, and approved at the last council meeting before the election.
The council's annual report showed the city made a net surplus of $6.3 million for the year ending June 30.
That was ahead of a budgeted surplus of $5.3 million, due to factors including a better-thanexpected $1.2 result from the Waipori Fund and infrastructure assets vested to the council worth $2.4 million.
Finance and corporate support general manager Athol Stephens said yesterday those assets were water and stormwater infrastructure built by developers for subdivisions. However, while they created a book profit and had to be included as revenue under accounting rules, they ended up costing money for maintenance.
The surplus was down on last year's $13.6 million, because of factors including the freeholding of some council land during that year.
Audit director Bede Kearney, of Christchurch, told an extraordinary meeting of the council finance and strategy committee there were "no areas of particular concern" from the report.
Mr Kearney said Audit New Zealand's view was that the financial management process of the council was "very strong for a local authority".
In response to a question from Mayor Peter Chin, he said he knew the council was acutely aware of its level of debt. "At this stage, I haven't looked at that with particular concern," Mr Kearney said.
"That doesn't mean councillors won't have a difference of opinion from a political view."
He said the Local Government Act 2002 considered inter-generational debt, where the costs of council projects were paid by ratepayers over periods of up to 20 years, as a way to fund those projects.
"If you fund everything on today's rates, you put a burden on today's ratepayer."
Cr Vandervis attacked the report, and said it gave a "falsely positive view", but was the only councillor who voted against approving it.
Mayor Peter Chin wished councillors luck as they faced the voters and thanked chief executive Jim Harland for his "support and guidance" over the previous three years.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
