Adelaide Council Adjusts 2024/25 Budget After Q1 Performance Review

Adelaide councillors voted on 26 November 2024 to accept the City of Adelaide 2024/25 Business Plan and Budget Quarter 1 Update and to approve revised capital and borrowing figures for the remainder of the year.

The decision came after the Audit and Risk Committee reviewed actual results against the adopted budget for the period ending 30 September 2024. Members sought to keep the city’s forward commitments aligned with the income and expenditure recorded in those three months while preserving flexibility for later adjustments.

Financial position recorded at the end of September

The minutes record total operating income of $59.603 million, which sat $0.788 million above the budgeted amount of $58.815 million. Operating expenses including depreciation reached $226.341 million, $0.483 million higher than the adopted figure. An operating surplus of $4.907 million was recorded, $0.476 million below the budgeted surplus of $5.383 million. Capital expenditure for the quarter totalled $17.063 million, $0.266 million above the budgeted amount.

Council then lifted the full-year capital expenditure approval to $122.912 million, an increase of $10.081 million on the original adopted budget. Projected borrowings to 30 June 2025 were reduced to $23.733 million, $29.944 million lower than the previously adopted projection.

Next steps for related policy items

A separate item on minimum sporting code standards for Park Lands facilities was split from the main motion. Parts three and four of that recommendation were removed and referred to the City Community Services and Culture Committee meeting scheduled for 3 December 2024. The remaining elements of the budget update motion passed unanimously after a division showed eight votes in favour and two against.

These adjustments give council officers updated spending and financing parameters for the balance of the 2024/25 financial year while deferring the sporting facilities policy details for further committee consideration.