Yass Valley Council Mayor, Jasmine Jones.
The newly appointed Mayor has recommended that “a consultant be engaged without delay to conduct an on-the-ground assessment into Council’s financial information which informs the financial statements to verify Council’s true financial situation.”
According to Mayor Jones’ Mayoral Minute, The brief report in the business paper points to “a recent information session on governance and finance held by a consultant from Morrison & Low, Mr Greg Smith, deduced from a quick desktop analysis of information from Council’s website that Council’s true position is being masked by the waste funds sitting in our general revenue accounting noting as well that Council’s narrow positive cash margin would likely change into the negative. I believe Council needs to vigorously assess its information accuracy and can no longer rely solely on Council’s internal skills base and external CFO contracted services. I acknowledge a CFO hiring process is in place and could be ready to start in February 2025 however Council requires urgent assistance to verify its data is accurate and the assessment will assist the incoming CFO and help guide Council build a strategic roadmap to financial sustainability.”