Central Coast Council has performed well throughout the first half of this year, with quarter two (Q2) results reported to Council at the 26 February 2024 Council Meeting. 

Council has now commenced setting aside funds – $1.4M each month – to enable the final pay down of the remaining emergency loan in November 2025. This follows the full payment of the $100M emergency loan in December 2023. 

By paying down these loans ahead of schedule, Council is freeing up more funds (including budgeted principal and interest repayments) to allocate towards community services and projects. 

The financial results for Q2 showed that Council is forecasting another surplus this financial year, which demonstrates that the prudent financial management measures are working. These will also ensure Council remains in a stable financial position for the return of Councillors in September this year. 

In addition to balancing the budget, Council is working hard on its project delivery and tracking very well against its adopted CAPEX delivery program. In the January capital works quarterly update, Council was tracking at 100 percent to budget – an excellent result. 

These results are highly encouraging and give me confidence that Council is functioning well, and will continue to, as we approach the return of a democratically elected governing body in just six months’ time. 

For more information on the progress of Council’s capital works projects head to: https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/about-council/capital-works-program

Rik Hart, Administrator