The City of Launceston voted to formally receive its Annual Report for the 2021/22 financial year at its Annual General Meeting, held at the Town Hall yesterday afternoon.
Against a budgeted underlying deficit of $7.1m, the Council achieved an underlying operational deficit of $993,000.
This result was driven by greater than expected revenues particularly in user charges at the Launceston Leisure & Aquatic Centre, Launceston Waste Centre and parking, as well as lower than budgeted employee costs.
The Council responded to 23,747 service requests from residents, provided more than $500,000 in events sponsorship funding, and delivered a capital works program totalling more than $24m.
Launceston Mayor Danny Gibson said the City of Launceston provided approximately 200 separate services to the community, and managed $1.4b of infrastructure, including 605km of footpaths, 758km of roads, 391km of urban roads, 366km of rural roads and 92 bridges.
During the 2021/22 financial year, Launceston was named Wotif's Aussie Town of the Year, the city was formally designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, and the Council approved $238m worth of development.
The Council launched its Full Gear motorcycle safety program, took out a Men's Health Award for its Barbers for Life suicide prevention project, and was recognised twice on the national stage for its mobile animal shelter project.
The Council adopted its Sustainability Action Plan, endorsed a new Flying of Flags policy, and installed new electric vehicle charging stations in tourism hotspots across the municipality.
"The Annual Report provides a chance to look back on the financial year just ended and to review a full 12 months of operation of our Council," Mayor Gibson said.
"It allows us to identify trends, to understand where we need to focus in future, to learn what has worked well in the past, and identify opportunities for the future.
"I'm very proud of what we have achieved together, particularly the camaraderie of our staff, the relationships our organisation has built with other tiers of government, the collaborations we've had with the business community, community organisations, event organisers, sporting clubs, developers and many others.
"The City of Launceston is a can-do Council whose operations impact every element of our municipality.
"I believe we can look back on the past 12 months with pride, and with a newly elected Council now taking the reins, I'm also very excited about the future."
The City of Launceston's 2021/22 Annual Report can be found at: https://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/Council/Strategies-and-Reports
