Recent articles in local newspapers contain reports that the Peninsula Residents Association (PRA) was unable to obtain details about Central Coast Council’s latest operating budget as it was considered “not practical”.
The request made by the PRA seems entirely reasonable as the figures are fundamental to council operations and should be readily available.
Most, if not all, organisations, companies and businesses would undertake a budget process from “the bottom up” on an annual basis.
Central Coast Council’s process should be much the same.
The financial information, and more, being sought by the PRA is information that should, at least, be made available to Central Coast Council’s newly elected councillors after September 2024.
A failure to present such information to them, to enable the monitoring of actual financial performance against budgets, could result in a financial situation much the same as the previous elected council found itself in.
The information should also be available to the Minister for Local Government in the role of overseeing the operations of all NSW councils.
Email, Jul 2
Brian Cotterill, Empire Bay