The 2021-31 long-term plans at a glance
Long-term plan main financial forecasts of all councils
Forecast revenue (billions)
Forecast revenue increases from $15.6 billion in 2021/22 to $22.4 billion in 2030/31 (an increase of 43.6%).
Forecast rates revenue increases from $7.5 billion in 2021/22 (48% of total revenue) to $12.2 billion in 2030/31 (54% of total revenue).
Forecast operating expenditure (billions)
Increases from $13.4 billion in 2021/22 to $18.9 billion in 2030/31 (an increase of 41%).
Forecast capital expenditure
$77.2 billion Councils propose to spend $77.2 billion on their assets. Annual capital expenditure is expected to range between $7.5 and $7.9 billion. |
$32.5 billion on renewing assets $26.5 billion on improving levels of service $18.2 billion on meeting additional demand |
On average, renewal expenditure is forecast to be 84% of the amount of depreciation.
Forecast gross debt
Increases from $24.7 billion in 2021/22 to $38.4 billion in 2030/31.
Forecast gross debt as a percentage of revenue peaks at 201% in 2024/25.
Interest expenditure as a percentage of gross borrowing ranges between 3.1% and 3.3% over the forecasts.
Long-term plan audit results
Timeliness
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66 | councils adopted their long-term plans before the statutory deadline of 30 June 2021. |
12 | councils missed the deadline, but 9 adopted by the end of July 2021. One adopted in August, one in October, and one in December. |
Audit opinions
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67 | councils had clear audit opinions, which meant that the long-term plans were fit for purpose and based on reasonable underlying assumptions and information. For 63 of these councils, we highlighted matters of concern or information in our audit report. |
11 | councils received a qualified audit opinion, where we did not provide audit assurances over the long-term plan and all its assumptions. Two of these councils received an adverse audit report. |
Other facts
Infrastructure strategies
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43 | councils covered more types of infrastructure assets than those required to be included. |
2 | councils produced a combined financial and infrastructure strategy. |
Disclosures about climate change
All councils included appropriate disclosures on how climate change is expected to affect them and their communities. councils produced a combined financial and infrastructure strategy.
There were more than 5000 references to “climate change” in the 2021-31 long-term plans, an average of 65 references for each council. In the previous long-term plans, the average was 27.