Council is $12m up but won’t splurge

South Taranaki District Council finished the year with a surplus of nearly $12 million, but there are no plans for a spending spree.

South Taranaki District Mayor Ross Dunlop said the surplus was on paper, not in cash.

The council’s long-term investment fund (LTIF) had performed better than expected and, combined with accounting adjustments, showed a surplus of $11.98 million.

The figures were revealed when the council adopted its 2016/2017 Annual Report at a special meeting this week.

‘‘The extra money will go into the reserves for the times when the LTIF is not performing so well,’’ Dunlop said.

At year end, the LTIF balance totalled $137.43 million (including $12.36 million of internal borrowings), up from $131.65 million in 2015/16.

Council chief executive Craig Stevenson said the council currently drew down $5.6 million each year from the LTIF, which provided $3.87 million to subsidise general rates and a further $1.73 million to service loans for specific community projects.

‘‘In this way the council has returned around $96 million back to its communities since it was started in 1997.’’

The STDC’s long-term credit rating has been upgraded from A+ to AA- by Standard and Poor, with stable outlook.

‘‘This is a pleasing result for council because it means we can borrow at even lower margins which is good news for our ratepayers,’’ Stevenson said.

Meanwhile, interviews have been held with potential applicants for the chief executive role vacated by Stevenson, who has been appointed CEO of the New Plymouth District Council.

Dunlop said he was unsure when the council would have a decision on a new leader to announce.

‘‘It’s hard to say, it’s one of those things that will take as long as needed - I sound similar to Winston Peters don’t I,’’ he laughed.