Dannevirke: Budget surplus not welcomed by all

Raj Suppiah said subsidies had skewed the surplus. Photo / File

Profit is a bad look for our district council, one councillor believes.

At last week's Tararua District Council meeting, chief financial officer Raj Suppiah reported a $172,000 surplus.

"We've made savings across most activities, including staff restructuring and we're on track with our financial prudence to keep rates down," he said.

However, for Deputy Mayor Bill Keltie making a surplus is not what council should be about.

We've made savings across most activities and ... we're on track with our financial prudence to keep rates down.

Raj Suppiah, chief financial officer

"To me, councils shouldn't be in the business of making a profit because ratepayers then ask why they're paying so much in rates."

Mr Suppiah acknowledged the act required council to have a balanced budget.

"But the process of receiving subsidies does skew our surplus," he said.

Councillor David Roberts was not concerned.

"A profit sounds better than a loss."

Fellow councillor Jim Crispin agreed.

"A surplus of $172,000 - that's as fine a result as I'd like to see."

The council's annual plan was signed off by Audit New Zealand, with auditor Megan Wassilieff telling councillors there were just a couple of issues.

"The level of carry overs in the budget resulting in the capital budget being underspent by $8.8 million is one concern," she said.

"However, you have a clean, unmodified audit opinion."

Mr Ellis commented on the carryovers in the capital budget. "We don't live in the driest part of New Zealand and some of our projects and we have a lot of them, are affected by the weather," he said.

"Raj and his team do a hell of a lot of long hours and it's very good to get a clear audit."

Meanwhile, council's chief executive, Blair King, said he believed Mr Suppiah's team needed another resource.

"The auditors have highlighted the projects and our readiness for the audit and sensitive expenditure and my view is that Raj's team needs another financial resource because we're trying to do more with fewer staff resources.

"Are we cutting it too fine?"

Mr King said a revised budget will be presented to council as part of its annual plan to include funding for an extra resource for the finance team.