A new report on Central Otago District Council’s financial planning says the organisation is at a "developing" stage of maturity, with clear opportunities for ongoing improvement.
Deloitte senior consultant Kelvin Weston, who prepared the report for the council, said it reflected where a council of its size and complexity could reasonably be expected to sit.
The audit and risk committee reviewed the findings this week.
Using a financial planning and analysis model, Mr Weston concluded CODC was on a positive trajectory, provided recommended improvements were implemented over the next year.
No single issue stood out, he said — progress required people, processes and technology "working hand in hand".
Committee member Cr Tracy Paterson said it was pleasing to see a risk first identified in February being followed through.
She hoped the public release of the report demonstrated transparency and a willingness to improve.
Deloitte found departments generally worked collaboratively with the finance team and had embedded budget reviews into their workflows.
However, inconsistencies remained across departments, with variable engagement from budget holders.
That reduced financial visibility for leaders and increased the risk of budget misallocation, reactive decisions and misalignment with strategic priorities.
Chief finance officer Paul Morris said the next long-term plan would begin from a zero-based budgeting approach.
Some draft budgets had already required "gentle reminders" to ensure appropriate thinking.
He said the council also needed deeper conversations about its financial strategy, including whether land sales should be used to balance the budget and how investment income might offset rates.
Audit and risk chairman Bruce Robertson urged more ambition in responding to the recommendations, warning the council risked repeating past mistakes if it did not lift performance.
"I think it’s a very positive report and I’m very appreciative of the way everybody’s approached this positively. The down side is that we have got some dissonance within the organisation in terms of staff understanding their budgets and how to prepare them and manage them."
