BALLARAT City Council has saved more than $2 million on employment wages in 2013-14 financial year, according to its annual report.
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Staff remuneration was $41.4 million compared to $43.5 million for the same period in the previous financial year.
The report revealed that the City had saved $163,000 by employing one less senior officer than the previous financial year, but it had increased the total number of staff from 796 to 801 staff members.
The council employed 10 senior officers on salaries of $133,000 or more, compared to 11 for the same time the previous year.
However, there was a rise in the $170,000 to $179,000 bracket from zero to two staff members this year.
There were also 406 full-time employees – up from 403 – and 395 staff working on a part-time or casual basis compared to 393 from the year before.
The report also revealed staff turnover was at 6.1 per cent, down from 15.5 per cent for the same period in the 2012-13 year.
However, the report revealed the City pumped an additional $5 million into capital projects increasing the bill from $56 million in 2013-12 to $61 million this year.
Big ticket investments included $16 million improvement works on roads, drains and footpaths, $3.6 million into the indoor 50-metre pool at the Ballarat Aquatics and Lifestyle Centre, $4.5 million into kindergarten upgrades, $5 million for stage two of the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility, $1.5 million into various facility upgrades and $2.4 million into recreation capital improvement.
According to chief financial officer Glenn Kallio, the council’s operating expenditure was $137 million, assets were worth $1.5 billion and rates and charges equated $75 million up from $68.7 million for the same time last year.
The report revealed that the rates and charges accounted for 48 per cent of the City’s total operating income, which included increased revenue from a 7.5 per cent rate rise.
The council also recorded a profit of $20 million, an extra $3 million than anticipated.
In his report, the council’s chief executive officer Anthony Schinck said the biggest challenge had been finding a balance between planning for growth by providing new infrastructure while improving on existing assets.
The City outlined in the report it had lacked in improvement in most areas of the 2014 Community Satisfaction Survey, it had increased water consumption and also recorded a poor adoption rate by some units of the organisation of the integration of health and wellbeing priorities into the Council Plan 2013-17.
Among the council’s achievements in the report was securing $30.2 million in state government and council funding to deliver the first stage of development of the Ballarat West Employment Zone and the implementation of the Economic Strategy 2010-14 to drive investment and employment.
The report’s outcomes are expected to be adopted by Ballarat Councillors at the council meeting on Wednesday night.
melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au