Free chemical disposal
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Get rid of unwanted, out-of-date or leftover and potentially hazardous household chemicals from your kitchen, bathroom, laundry, garage or garden shed.
A free household chemical clean out day for the Upper Hunter will be held on Saturday from 9am to 3.30pm at the Scone Saleyards in Muffett Street.
The CleanOut program is a free service for the safe disposal of a range of common household chemicals which could cause harm to human health and the environment if not disposed of correctly.
This is funded from the NSW Government Waste Levy.
Your money at work
Finances are often regarded as boring, hum drum and insignificant.
My professional experience as a financial planner tells me otherwise.
I deal with everyday average households and small business and I can assure you, financial health is critical to any budget.
If a household has income of say $50,000 and living costs/mortgage or rent of $55,000, you don’t have to be an economist to work out something has to give sooner or later.
Council’s budget is no different.
The key is to remember it is your money.
Your money pays for roads, rubbish, parks, sporting fields, aged care, child care, libraries and many other shared community services we all value, particularly at a time in our lives when we use those services and/or facilities.
Your councillors and staff are always making decisions based on need and fairness across the range of activities to support the shire vision of ‘a quality rural lifestyle in a vibrant, caring and sustainable community’.
The recent audit of the council’s finances gave a positive indication that your money is managed well, on your behalf.
Now for some of the boring bits.
In 2013/14 council had Cash Income of $46.6 million and Cash Expenses of $42.6 million, which is an increase of $4.2 million.
This is mainly attributable to loans being drawn down that have not been fully expended, so there was no negative impact on council’s cash position.
With council’s Special Rate Variation granted progressively for the period 2013/14 to 2015/16, which has made available low cost funding under the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme, council is seeing the benefits of improved infrastructure.
This is reflected in council’s Building and Infrastructure Renewal Ratio which has increased from 80 per cent to 121 per cent during the last 12 months.
This compares very favorably to a state average of 81 per cent for 2013.
It means that council is spending more on renewing its infrastructure at a rate greater than the rate of depreciation.
This increased level of work will continue in 2014/15 and 2015/16 with three bridges being replaced and various rural and urban road upgrades.
Further, council’s unrestricted current ratio of 4.02:1 or $4.02 of assets for every $1 of liabilities indicates that council’s financial position is strong and comparable to the state average of 4.0 for 2013 or the State Treasury Corp benchmark of greater than 1.5.
Council’s principal external auditor, Forysths Chartered Accountants presented the audit report on the 2013/14 Financial Statements in front of councillors, staff and members of the public at a meeting held on November 21.
So in the end, council continues to manage your money well so it can continue to provide the services and facilities we all use, from time to time.
The roads we can all drive on and the quality of our lifestyle we are used to and expect.
Council works hard to meet, indeed exceed, your expectations in supporting a quality rural lifestyle in a vibrant, caring and sustainable community.
Christmas
It is only 29 days until we wake up and find the big fella has visited and feasts abound, well for most of us anyway.
The majority are privileged enough to enjoy the Christmas season and all that it means to us as individuals and collectively, as a community.
Unfortunately not everyone is afforded the same feelings.
For many reasons, Christmas can be a stressful and somber time for many and we should all be thinking about how we can help, in any little way, to reach out to anyone that may not be as fortunate as others or when the festive season reminds those of happier times.
It does not have to be a present as such, a simple hand of friendship is all that is required to brighten anyone’s day, especially at Christmas.
Now is a great time to ask ‘RUOk’ - https://www.ruok. org.au/.
Given this is my last shire notes for 2014, I extend my best wishes for a merry Christmas and a safe, happy and healthy new year.