Shire of Coolgardie reserve transfer corrects audit finding from 2024-25

The Shire of Coolgardie has agreed to transfer an additional $72,000 to a reserve for maintenance of aged care units to correct an audit finding which revealed it had not been putting aside the money it needed to for the purpose.

At the June ordinary council meeting, councillors unanimously supported a motion to make the additional transfer into the aged accommodation joint venture reserve to ensure compliance with the requirements of its agreement with the State Housing Commission and address a moderate finding raised in the 2024-25 final audit management letter.

The audit found the shire had made no transfers to the reserve that year and only $32,500 was in the account.

The agreement requires the shire to keep a balance equivalent to one per cent of current replacement values of the properties, meaning the required balance at June 30 was $136,271.

To correct this, the council last month endorsed transferring $72,626 into the account, in addition to its $30,000 annual requirement, to bring the account back in line with the amount it should be sitting at.

The report to council noted the matter was first identified during the 2024-25 audit as a moderate finding and the shire was directed to increase the reserve to the required level by June 30, 2026.

At the time the 2025-26 budget was adopted, it was anticipated the shire would have insufficient cash flow capacity to make the full transfer requirement to address the shortfall before June 30, 2026.

Since that time, the shire’s financial position has strengthened, and it was considered appropriate to bring forward the reserve contribution and address the audit finding.

Shire president Paul Wilcox said the regular payments had not “really been a feature that was happening at the shire” and he was eager to see this corrected.