Service Planning and Long Term Financial Planning (LTFP) is vital to assessing sustainability of an effective and efficient Local Government Organisation.
Financial sustainability is now more challenging as Councils adjust their budgets to counter the impacts of rate capping. Going forward most Councils will need to make choices about lowering service costs and capital investment. So which services and which projects – how does Council determine its priorities?
Service Planning – CT Management Group has a Service Planning process which provides a review of the range of services Council provides, defines the level of service provided and the cost of service; and then facilitates a review of the sustainability of this service mix over the life of Council’s Long Term Financial Plan.
Are the range of services provided by Council aligned to Councils strategic direction and is the level of service sustainable and affordable in the long term?
If changes are required, how will Council make the comparative choices between services or decide to lower or increase a service level?
If so, what are the financial implications of these decisions over the life of the current Long Term Financial Plan?
At CT Management Group we have developed a mechanism to assist your Council assess its services and capital priorities through the use of products.
We can provide a Long Term Financial Planning product (LTFP) that will ensure Council has a viable and proactive financial strategy 20 years into the future.
Using our product your Council can manage its financial sustainability and ensure compliance with accounting standards. The program highlights funding needs and outlines financial scenarios.
The LTFP product includes a dashboard analysis feature for testing scenarios and creating presentations to Executive Management and Council.
LTFP Output:
- All financial statements out to 20 years
- 20 year capital works program with renewal upgrade, expansion and new standard projects
- VAGO indicator ratios out to 20 years
- Financial ratio graphs including Local Government Performance Reporting Framework – Financial Sustainability Ratios
- Model Budget Outputs – LGV model compliant
- Capital Expenditure Summary Outputs by asset class, asset type including funding splits across funding sources
Linking to the Long Term Financial Planning product are the following financial planning tools:
Service Cost Evaluation Model (SCEM) – which assists Councils to define the range and level of service, prepare costed 10 year service plans and then examine the sustainability of current services provided at their current level, using the LTFP. This then enables Council to make comparative choices between services.
Capital Works Evaluator (CWE) – assists Councils prepare a 40 year Capital Works Program and includes fully calculated and escalated whole of life costs and interfaces with the LTFP.
Financial Ratios Benchmarking – released each year these Financial Ratios now provide 10 years of individual Council history data for all benchmark ratios. Flexible benchmarking can also be provided for Council Groups.
CT Management Group can assist you with this planning package by providing experienced Local Government associates to support you, during implementation and any upgrades. We are focused on assisting Councils achieve their goals by providing solutions supported by our years of experience, specialist skills and knowledge.
To arrange a demonstration of the features and benefits of our LTFP product, please contact Sonia Giofches on 1300 500 932 or complete the form below.