Inaccurate Asset Valuation Affects Seven NZ Local Council Financial Statements

The Office of the Auditor-General has released the results of its audits of New Zealand's 78 local councils for the 2021/22 financial year. This report highlights the key issues and common themes that emerged from these audits.

The key issues are:

- Seven councils presented inaccurate or incomplete information about the value of their assets, which affected their financial statements.

• Napier City Council;
• Waitaki District Council;
• Kaikōura District Council;
• Invercargill City Council;
• Marlborough District Council;
• Dunedin City Council; and
• Taranaki Regional Council.

- Thirteen councils did not meet requirements for reporting on their performance in providing water services.

- Nineteen councils presented information in their statements of service performance that did not clearly tell a story about the services they delivered and why.

- Twenty-one councils received qualified audit opinions, which means there were issues with the reliability of some of the information in their financial statements and/or performance information.

- A large number of councils were affected by uncertainty around the future of water services, due to the proposed Three Waters Reform Programme.

- Audit reports were issued for 78 councils, and 21 of those included a qualified audit opinion.

- Of the 21 councils with qualified audit opinions, 17 received qualifications on their statements of service performance.

- There were delays in completing some audits and 35 councils (45 percent) had their audit opinions signed after the statutory reporting deadline.

Full report: https://www.oag.parliament.nz/2023/local-govt