Wollongong City Council is in the black – but is it swimming in spare cash? Photo: File.
Wollongong City Council ended November 2025 in the black – but that doesn’t mean it has cash to splash, councillors say.
The council heard the year-to-date financial results at 28 November 2025 compared to budget were favourable across every area.
However, some reports indicated the council had an extra $40 million available to spend.
Councillor David Brown told council’s latest meeting that reports the council had a significant amount of extra cash were incorrect and asked for more information.
“I’m having trouble seeing a lazy $40 million in our financial reports,” he said.
“How could this have been misinterpreted in the public arena?”
Wollongong City Council’s chief financial officer Brian Jenkins said the council’s cash and investment holdings were up in November, but that needed to be looked at in the context of the entire quarter.
“Our cash and investment holdings at the end of November were up $40 million on the month before, partly because we finalised the sale of Stream Hill for $25 million in that month,” he said.
“There was a delay between that and our spending, so in that sense we were up $40 million.
“We also get cash investments from rates, so we peak and then drop down each quarter.
“The monthly reports are there for transparency, but analysis on the data is done in quarterly reviews.”
The council’s next quarterly review will be released in March.
The November report said the level of cash and investments in the council’s available funds position remains above the financial strategy target range of 3.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent of operational revenue, but that the increase in cash and investments over the period remains closely aligned with anticipated cash flows.
While Wollongong City Council might not be swimming in cash, it does remain firmly in the black and looks to be on track to achieve its projected $12 million surplus for the 2025-2026 financial year.
Neighbouring Kiama Council is not faring so well, however.
A 2025 audit conducted by the NSW Office of Local Government identified Kiama Council as having financial sustainability risks due to ongoing operating losses.
The audit found Kiama’s cash balance was impacted by the repayment of money borrowed during 2024–25 and ongoing losses from the aged-care facility, Bonaira Bluehaven, which was subsequently sold during 2024–25.
It was among 10 councils singled out by the audit as being financially vulnerable.
The same audit found no financial issues with either Wollongong or Shellharbour councils.
