The 2021-31 long-term plans at a glance

Matters arising from our audits of the 2021-31 long-term plans.

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

	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

	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

	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

Windmill image 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.