Media Reponses (6 December - 10 December)
Media Reponses (6 December - 10 December)
Content: Dog attack, Annual Report, Asset valuation
Gympie Times: 7 December – Dog attack
QUESTION:
Last night a social media post went viral on Facebook about a distraught cat owner who claims her cat was mauled by a dog as the two dog owners watched on. When the victims went to police, they were turned away and not provided much assistance and they said they turned to the council for help. Can you confirm what happened at the dog attack? Is the council currently aware of the situation, if so is there any investigation into the dog.
If an incident like this occurs, are the council the right people to call? Is there a phone number people could contact if something like this happens again and what should people do?
ANSWER:
Council takes incidents of dog attacks very seriously and encourages the community to report any attacks to council.
In this instance, the matter was reported to council by two different people, one being the alleged victim. Council Rangers quickly responded to the reports and have already identified the owner of the dog who is alleged to have attacked the cat. An investigation is currently underway.
Gympie Times: 9 December – Annual Report
QUESTION:
Can I please get a copy of the Annual Report?
ANSWER:
Gympie Times: 10 December – Asset valuation
QUESTION:
Can I please get comment explaining why the large change in asset revelation this year, as opposed to the previous two?
A $300+ million increase is rather large; what caused it?
ANSWER:
During the 2020-2021 financial year, a number of council’s major asset classes - roads, bridges, drainage, water and sewerage - were the subject of an asset revaluation process. The value of these classes is a significant portion of the total asset value owned by council and any adjustments to the inputs to the calculation of asset values can result in significant changes to the total asset value, as is the case in this financial year.
During the revaluation, the valuers determined that the unit rates for the asset components needed to be adjusted to reflect the current economic conditions. These unit rates are one part of the methodology used to calculate asset values. The changes to unit rates identified during the revaluation process were benchmarked against resources published by professional bodies and across similar local governments.
The major change was to the value of roads, bridges and drainage assets, which was last comprehensively valuated in 2016.
David Lewis, Director – Corporate Financial Services