CEO's message

As I prepare to commence a period of planned leave, I’ve found myself reflecting on the past six months and, in particular, the efforts underway to strengthen AlburyCity's financial position.

The recruitment process for a permanent CEO will continue in my absence. This feels like an appropriate moment to reflect on the progress we’ve made together, and acknowledge the significant contribution of Councillors and people across Council.

I arrived at a time when Council was already doing a lot of work to understand and respond to its financial challenges. Over the past six months, I've had the opportunity to help build on that work and see the organisation really focus on where we can improve, where we can find efficiencies and how we can make the best use of the resources available to us. And we've made some good progress.

When we started this work, Council's projected FY26 General Fund deficit was more than $22 million. Today, that projection is $18.9 million - an improvement of more than $3 million, and there is some optimism that position could improve further.

We've also identified and started progressing around $3.3 million in savings opportunities, with $1.6 million in ongoing savings now built into the budget.

That's a significant amount of work, and it's the result of Our People across Council looking closely at what we do and asking how we can do it better.

But financial sustainability isn't something you fix once and then move on from. There is more work to do.

The next phase is about consolidating the savings identified, looking for further efficiencies, considering opportunities to strengthen Council's revenue base and making sure growth is appropriately funded.

Council will also consider what it’s heard from the community through the recent consultation on its financial position and a potential Special Rate Variation, with that feedback helping inform the decisions ahead.

Some of those decisions will be challenging, but I think we've demonstrated over the past six months that Council is prepared to have those conversations and do the work required.

And that's important because maintaining the status quo isn't a long-term solution.

If we don't continue to address the underlying financial challenges, they become harder to resolve over time.

The decisions made now are about putting Council in a stronger position and giving future Councils more choices about how they invest in and support this community.

And I've also seen how difficult some of these conversations can be when we look at the cost of individual facilities and services.

It's completely reasonable for our community to ask questions about what things cost and how Council is spending its money. 

But we also need to look at the bigger picture. A facility might not be used by everyone, but that doesn't mean it isn't valuable to the community or to the character and liveability of the city.

Financial sustainability also means understanding the cost, understanding the value and making informed choices about what the community can sustainably support, now and into the future.

That's the balance Council needs to find - being disciplined about how it spends public money while recognising the broader value that Council's services and facilities bring to the community.

One of the things I'll take away from my time here is the commitment I've seen right across Council.

I've seen Our People willing to look at how things are done, challenge assumptions and continually seek opportunities to improve. There's a lot to be proud of in that.

There’s still more to do, but I leave knowing that good foundations have been put in place and that there is a clear body of work to continue.

I'd like to thank the Councillors, Our People across Council and the community for welcoming me to Albury and for the opportunity to contribute over the past six months.

It's been a privilege to be part of AlburyCity.

Steve McGrath 
Interim CEO, AlburyCity