Clare County Council Publishes Unaudited Annual Financial Statement For 2011

May 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Total Government funding received by Clare County Council during 2011 was €66.8M, compared to €78.2m in 2010.

The Council says it achieved considerable savings through a reduction in operating costs such as payroll and has some additional income generated under the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) scheme

The total payroll (Salary, Wages and Pension) cost for 2011 was €40.9m, compared to €42.2m incurred the previous year, giving a reduction of €1.26m. The figure arose from the reduction in the number of staff employed by the Council in 2011 and consequential revised work practices, and also reduced callouts arising in the emergency service area.

Head of Finance Niall Barrett noted that the 2011 financial year was a difficult one that required the Council to make expenditure savings in order to negate both the impact of a significant reduction in Government funding, and other income reductions..

“Taking into consideration the fiscal challenges faced by the Council, this result is welcomed and has arisen from effective budget management of both expenditure and income throughout the organisation,” he added.

Mr. Barrett continued: “The key factors that influenced the financial performance of the Council included an increased level of vacant properties impacting Commercial Rates and a general increase in irrecoverable charges due to the impact of the economic climate, NPPR income, payroll savings, the severe cold weather and resulting damage to water mains, the deferral of the amortization of unfunded capital balances relating to the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduffbeg; and critical maintenance and security issues at Traveller Accommodation sites.”

“While the overall result is almost break-even and can be considered to be positive in the context, cognisance must be taken of the fact that this situation is only arrived at by virtue of the corrective actions taken by the Council in reducing its expenditure in line with available funding in 2011,” added Mr. Barrett.

Other key points from the Annual Financial Statement:
-   At the end of 2011, the value of Clare County Council’s total assets was €2.92 billion, representing an €30m increase on 2010. The increase is explained primarily by the completion of Water and Sewerage Schemes (€24m) and the purchase and construction of Local Authority Houses in the County (€4m).
-   There was an increase in the uncollected rates at end 2011 over the previous year reflecting the difficult economic climate. However, the total cash collected for rates in the year amounted to €34.5m which was an increase of 10% over the cash collected in the previous year.
-   The Council’s long term loans at 31st December 2011 amounted to €117.2m, a reduction of €6.6m on previous year balance (€123.8m).