The Tasmanian City Council Model Budget 2007/2008 Guide is a best practice guide for reporting local government budgets in Tasmania. It is aimed at providing local government with definitive guidance on best practice budget reports and is based on real examples relevant to local government in Tasmania.  
 
This guide is based on a fictional council: Tasmanian City Council.  
 
The second edition of the Guide has continued the theme of improving the usefulness of the budget to non-financial users begun in the 2006/07 version. The format and composition of the budget has also been better aligned to the annual report. All known changes arising from the introduction of Australian equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (A-IFRS) have been reflected in the revised version.  
 
The key changes include an Introduction from the Mayor, Chief Executive Officer Summary (formerly the executive summary), a section outlining how the budget links with the achievement of the Council Plan and a snapshot of the municipality and implications for the budget. The Rating Strategy section now includes an example note on the outcomes of the biennial property revaluations, the Other Strategies section has been expanded to include information on the asset renewal gap and how it links with the rating effort, and the Capital Works appendix has been restructured so that projects are clearly identified as asset renewal or new assets.  
 
No changes have been made to the latest Guide to reflect the likely demise of Australian Accounting Standard AAS27 "Financial Reporting by Local Governments". However the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) has announced that the review of AAS27, AAS29 and AAS31 will be one of its key projects for the 2007 year with an Exposure Draft due to be released in June 2007.  
 
We hope that this is a tool that you will find beneficial for your Council.  
 
Download Tasmanian City Council Model Budget 2007/2008 A best practice guide (1310KB)  
 
Should you have any questions regarding the Tasmanian City Council Model Budget Guide please contact the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia on 03 9641 7400