Murrindindi Shire ratepayers are entitled to ask serious questions about the management of Council funds.
A report due to go to the Council meeting tonight (Wed.) says that the underlying financial result for the 2023-24 year will be a deficit of $7.962 million.
Originally, Shire CEO and her staff announced a planned budget surplus of $1.170 million. Instead, they delivered a $1.163 million deficit, a variance of $2.333 million.
The ‘underlying result’ was to be a $3.532 million deficit, but they finished the year with a $7.962 million deficit, a variance of $4.430 million.
“There is a $2.7 million unfavourable variance to the operating result for the financial year, resulting in a $1.6 million deficit compared to the original adopted budget. This was largely the result of increased expenditure, most notably a $6.5 million increase in expenditure on materials and contractors,” the written report states.