15/16Annual Report S U M M A R Y

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Our City is a welcoming, connected, and diverse City of 115,000 residents. As a Council, we are responsible for maintaining and improving our City’s assets for the use and enjoyment of members of our community who live, work, own businesses and play here. The 15/16 Annual Report is a detailed document which outlines the work and achievements of the 2015/16 financial year together with a summary of the services provided to our community.

This is the third year that the Annual Report has reported against our 2013 - 2027 Community Plan: A City where people come first. We are currently undertaking an update of the Community Plan. As such, next year’s Annual Report will report against the revised Community Plan.

We were proud to complete the $8.4 million Henley Precinct Redevelopment on time and within budget, creating a space that is vibrant, welcoming and a gateway to our coast. The project was recently awarded an Australian Institute of Landscape Architects commendation for Excellence, Parks and Open Space. Our next significant project will be the Port Road Drainage Project. The City of Charles Sturt in collaboration with the Stormwater Management Authority (SMA) will commence works on the $24 million Port Road Stormwater Drainage Project. This will see major underground drains installed in the Port Road central median between Old Port Road (Cheltenham) and Park Street South (Woodville) which will provide stormwater flood mitigation to

executive summary

for the City of Charles Sturt over the past year, or who have undertaken other community work in our City. We had volunteers working over 39,424 hours or nearly 5,000 days in our community, which demonstrates the extraordinary commitment they have made to our City.

You can contribute in many ways to help our City thrive; through your local sporting club, attending and helping run community events, visiting a neighbour or volunteering through our council. Your focus on forming relationships within our City, and with us, helps us build a connected community.

suburbs of Albert Park, Cheltenham, Woodville West and Woodville in the Port Road stormwater catchment. This project will also enable vehicles to access the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in a 1 in 100 year rainfall event. Detailed engineering design for the project was conducted throughout 2015/16 and construction works will commence in the summer of 2016/17.

Open space continues to be a focus for us, together with enhancing and celebrating our natural environments. Reflecting the needs of our growing community is the need to provide quality usable open space. Council has focused on creating, maintaining and further enhancing community spaces, including our City’s playgrounds. We currently have 160 playgrounds in various local, neighbourhood, district and regional parks. This year we renewed and upgraded six playgrounds at a number of reserves, as well as spending $14.8 million on road and path maintenance, upgrades and construction.

Council is also taking a more active role in assisting local businesses to thrive, employing more people and contribute to the economy of our state.

Our largest expenditure was the renewal and maintenance of our assets and infrastructure, with a value of more than $1 billion. Our focus on renewing our infrastructure and maintaining our assets ensures that a backlog of work does not develop for future generations to pay. Our City’s assets are constantly monitored and upgraded over time. In 2015/16 we created, renewed and upgraded 11,230 linear metres (lm) of footpaths to provide safe cycle and pedestrian routes.

Our community functions because of our genuine connections and sense of belonging. We would like to thank our residents who volunteered

Paul SuttonChief Executive Officer

Angela Evans Mayor

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our council The City of Charles Sturt is comprised of 17 members – Her Worship the Mayor and 16 Councillors, two for each of the eight wards.

Cr Jassmine Wood

Cr Robert Randall JP

Henley Ward

Angela Evans

Mayor

Semaphore Park Ward

Cr Stuart Ghent JP

Cr Barbara Wasylenko

Cr Tom Scheffler

Cr Rachele Tullio

Grange Ward

Cr Paul Alexandrides

Cr Alice Campbell

Hindmarsh Ward

Cr Edgar Agius OAM, JP

Cr Mick Harley OAM

Beverley Ward

Cr Oanh Nguyen

Cr Robert Grant

Woodville Ward

Cr Kelly Thomas Cr Tolley Wasylenko JP

West Woodville Ward

Cr Paul Sykes Cr George Turelli

Findon Ward

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A City where people come first.

Annual Report Highlights

Our active volunteers contributed over 39,000 hours of community service. 17,500 volunteer hours were delivered through our community centres, with the other 21,000 hours were delivered across the City through the community bus, garden maintenance, animal management and biodiversity programs.

One of the significant ways Council can measure our ecological footprint is through monitoring the number of trees/ shrubs that are planted, and also removed, throughout the City. We also monitor and dedicate resourcing to increasing biodiversity throughout the City. This year we planted 21,000 trees and shrubs.

Our social media communities continued to engage with us and online participation is growing with Twitter gaining 2,546 new followers, Facebook attracting 2,000 new followers and Instagram welcoming 600 new followers which is a significant improvement on previous years.

We have over 100 playgrounds located within our reserves and open spaces. Six playgrounds were renewed with contemporary equipment for kids of a range of ages to enjoy.

We remain focused on sharing information with our community about where waste goes and how residents can responsibly dispose of their household, organic and garden waste. In 2015/16, 50% of our waste was sent to landfill, 21% sent to recycling and 29% sent to compost from our green organics bins.

Detailed engineering design was completed for the $24m Port Road Drainage Project. The designs plan for major underground drains installed in the Port Road central median between Old Port Road and Park Street South, providing stormwater flood mitigation to the Port Road stormwater catchment. Construction works are expected to commence in the summer of 2016/17.

Community Wellbeing

Sustainability and Environment

LeadershipEconomic Prosperity

Liveability and Place

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We launched the Building Western Adelaide Strategy and created a Western Alliance for the Western councils to work collaboratively on Economic Development matters.

21 Western Adelaide companies, led by Charles Sturt, attended the China Business Mission in April 2016, resulting in the creation of the Australia China Aged Care Consortium which will export aged care design and services to China from Charles Sturt.

The total value of our City’s assets is over $1b and includes roads, footpaths, stormwater, property and buildings including our libraries and community centres. Our City’s assets are constantly monitored and upgraded over time. In 2015/16 we created 11,230 linear metres (lm) of new footpaths to provide safe cycle and pedestrian routes.

In the past 12 months 29 consultation projects were delivered by Council. Projects have encompassed an extremely broad range of themes including policy reviews, transport and parking plans, DPAs, place making and community reference group hubs.

As a part of our goal to protect and minimise our ecological footprint, we are working closely with schools and community groups to look after our sand dunes. We engaged with around 400 students about biodiversity.

Each year OPAL has a new healthy lifestyle focus for children and families. This year we focused on installing Bike Repair Stations in key areas, encouraging residents to be active outdoors.

There are lots of ways you can receive information and provide feedback to us online and via social media. We have our website; an eNewsletter called Diamond Bytes; a Facebook page with photos, events and news; a twitter account with news and updates; an instagram account that showcases some of our City’s amazing areas and a Snapchat account.

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Create a safe, healthy and supportive community which encourages participation, creativity and diversity.

Community Wellbeing

The City of Charles Sturt’s Corporate Plan is informed by our Community Plan 2013 – 2027: A city where people come first. The Community Plan sets out five community theme areas that were developed in consultation with our residents. These theme areas are: Community Wellbeing, Liveability and Place, Sustainability and Environment, Leadership and Economic Prosperity.

Within our Corporate Plan, these theme areas have specific actions and indicators to ensure we are able to monitor and report Council’s performance against the five theme areas.

Corporate Indicators 2015/16

14,689 dogs registered12,878

7,100people received

vaccines

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SAFE COMMUNITY

Reducing vehicle speeds to lower the likelihood and severity of accidents in built up residential areas

Partnering with food services across the City to improve food safety compliance

Connecting our community through reliable transport and social support provision

Safety on our roads - 40km/hr speed limits

Reduced vehicle speeds lower the likelihood and severity of traffic accidents. In our City, the core objective of implementing 40km/h speed limits is to improve safety for all people using the street. This year we implemented 40km/hr speed limits in Henley Beach, which is reflected in the data below with 12% of our City’s local roads now operating with 40km/hr speed limits. % of local roads in 40km/hr speed limit

2016 12%

2015 10%

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Build healthy, functional and attractive neighbourhoods.

Liveability and Place

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ACTIVE COMMUNITY

Providing up to date and accessible resources through our library services

Creating useable quality open spaces and encouraging residents to be active in those areas

Maintaining our City’s roads and footpaths so they are accessible and safe for our residents

The provision of sports club facilities in our City is key contributor to liveability, providing opportunities for community to be active, healthy and connect with others. We support the ongoing development of our sports clubs by providing a professional development program. In 2016, approximately half of our 70 sports clubs participated in this development opportunity.

% of sports clubs participating in Council’s professional development program

Library Service

has

44,584 members(35,327)31%of our residents are library members

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10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2014 2015 2016

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Protect our environment and minimise our ecological footprint.

Sustainability and Environment

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GREEN COMMUNITY

Reducing our City’s waste through recycling initiatives

Promoting responsible water use by irrigating our open spaces with recycled water

Focusing on fuel consumption and achieving fuel economy through responsible fleet management

Tree and understorey plantings on Council land, although slightly down on last year, planting numbers have remained above the 2013 level, thanks to funding secured from the Million Trees program and the River Torrens Recovery Project. Funding was received in 2014, 2015 and again this year keeping planting levels elevated.

average amount of waste collected for every property in the City

0.89tonne (890kg) 14.63%tree canopy

Understorey plants planted in biodiversity sitesUnderstorey plants planted on streetscapes & reserves Trees planted 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

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Build an economically thriving and competitive city.

Economic Prosperity

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BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Providing up to date and accessible resources through our library services

Creating useable quality open spaces and encouraging residents to be active in those areas

Maintaining our City’s roads and footpaths so they are accessible and safe for our residents

Participation in business development events in the Western Region has continued to grow, with a significant increase in the past year. The increase in business contacts is attributable to greater participation overall in existing activities, plus, a number of new business engagement events including: The Lunar New Year celebration, Health collaboration and Aged Care Consortium. Further, there were significant increases in attendance at the SA Migrant Business Expo and China Ready workshops. The Western Region includes the Cities of Charles Sturt, Holdfast Bay, Port Adelaide Enfield and West Torrens.

8,007number of

businesses in CCS

unemployment (as at March 2016):

2015 9392016 1,599

online chats up

$5.17 billion5.5%

our Gross Regional Product is estimated at

which represents

of the state’s GSP (Gross State Product)

CCS 6.6% SA 7.4%

*Figures for 2014 and 2015 have been revised to include participation with the Henley and Woodville Business Associations.

200

2013

400

2014*

550

2015*

1930

2016

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Demonstrate effective leadership with strong community collaboration.

LeadershipK

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CONNECTED COMMUNITY

Sound community engagement has been carried out City wide

Strategic management has resulted in meeting our asset management renewal targets

Customer satisfaction survey results showed an 8% increase in satisfaction at the organisation wide level and a stable satisfaction rate of 89% from our Customer Contact Team (previously Customer Call Centre).

Customer call resolution rates showed an increase for their 3rd consecutive year, with 77% of all calls (83,081 out of 107,898) being resolved at the first point of contact with Council’s Customer Contact Team.

Overall satisfaction with organisation wide customer service

Overall satisfaction with Customer Contact Team

48,577 kwH we harvested

of electricity from our solar panels and put it back

into the grid

91%we renewed

of the assets identified in AMPs renewal schedules across all asset categories

2016

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

2015

89%

67%

59%

89%

70% 69% 70% 74% 77%

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finances ata glanceNote: Full financial statements are available on our website at www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au

This year Council’s Operating Expenditure was $107.082m and Capital expenditure $31.270m. We received $112.900m in rates and other income and $12.624m in grants from the State Government, the Federal Government and other sources.

*Sustaining an operating surplus is important to maintaining our community assets and ensuring rate payers are paying for what they consume.

2016$000

2015$000

Rates income 96,360 92,720

Total grants* (includes grants for new/upgraded assets) 12,624 11,760

Statutory charges 4,123 4,019

Other income 3,911 3,262

Gain on disposal of assets* (8,080) (2,976)

Gain - Equity accounted businesses 5 708

Physical resources received free of charge* 4,915 3,143

Other Comprehensive Income (includes changes in revaluation surplus and impairment expense)

(4,873) 3,993

Income Sub Total 108,985 116,629

Loss - Equity accounted businesses – 30

Employee costs 38,727 37,600

Depreciation 25,977 24,528

Finance costs 1,022 1,414

Materials, Contracts, Other expenses 41,356 39,809

Expenditure Sub Total 107,082 103,381

Operating surplus (excludes profit on disposal, physical resources received free of charge and grants for new /upgraded assets*)

5,420 7,163

Net surplus (excludes other comprehensive income) 6,776 9,255

Total Comprehensive Income (Income less Expenditure subtotal - includes other comprehensive income)

1,903 13,248

Key Sustainability Ratios

Operating surplus ratio (target >=0%) 5% 6%

Net Financial Liabilities ratio (target <100%) 34% 40%

Asset sustainability ratio (target>80%) 82% 104%

Interest cover ratio (target <10%) 0.8% 1.1%

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key indicators

A number of key financial indicators are used to enable an assessment of Council’s performance over 2015/16 and alignment with its long term financial plan to ensure financial sustainability.

Operating Surplus ratio Target >=0% On track

An operating surplus indicates the extent to which operating revenue is sufficient to meet all operating expenses and whether current ratepayers are paying for their consumption of resources.

The Operating Surplus ratio expresses the operating surplus as a percentage of operating income.

The ratio indicates the cost of services provided to ratepayers is being met from operating revenues with surplus’s being used to fund infrastructure works in line with our Long Term Financial Plan projections.

This ratio indicates that council’s existing assets are over time being renewed to cost effectively maintain services as per Asset Management plans. However the timing of renewal infrastructure projects adopted annually as part of the budget process but which are incomplete as at the end of the year can have an impact on this ratio. However it should be

This ratio demonstrates that council’s total indebtedness (including borrowings) can be met by our operating revenue with our position demonstrating we are well placed to fund all of our commitments including our borrowings for Water Proofing the West with our ratio <50% of our total operating revenue in all years.

Operating Surplus ratio

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2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

20162015201420132012

Net Financial Liabilities ratio Benchmark <100% On track

Net Financial Liabilities is an indicator of the Council’s total indebtedness and includes all of a council’s obligations including provisions for employee entitlements and creditors.

This ratio indicates the extent to which the net financial liabilities of the Council can be met by the Council’s total operating revenue.

Net Financial Liabilities ratio

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

20162015201420132012

Asset Sustainability ratioTarget >80% On track (monitor)

This ratio indicates whether the council is renewing or replacing existing infrastructure assets such as stormwater, roads, footpaths as per Councils’ asset management plans.

Asset Sustainability ratio

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20

40

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100

120

20162015201420132012

noted all proposed infrastructure works undergo a period of consultation to ensure they meet community demands and meet services required.