Council to write-off outstanding debtor accounts
South Burnett Regional Council, at the General Meeting held on Wednesday 20 May 2020 resolved to approve a write-off to the value of $158,740.78 in outstanding debtor accounts that have been assessed as uncollectable.
Council has undertaken various avenues to collect the outstanding sundry debtor accounts, with several attempts to reach the identified debtors through collection letters and issuing statements of account proving unsuccessful. The proposed write-off adheres to Council’s Sundry Debtors Management Policy, Australian Accounting Standards Board AASB9 and Limitations of Actions 1974 (Qld).
Sundry Debtors - A number of historically aged sundry debtors have been assessed as uncollectable after all efforts of collection have been exhausted and are outside the statute of limitations. As per the provision in the Sundry Debtors Management Policy, debts that are over twelve (12) months old with no payment plans in place and assessed as uncollectable shall be considered to be bad debts. The uncollectable sundry debts recommended for immediate write-off amount to $35,423.16.
Trade Waste - Council’s Trade Waste Module captures Council’s fees for Septic tank waste and Grease Trap waste removal. Council has a current outstanding balance in Trade Waste of $32,958.04, a majority of which sits in 90 days overdue. Council have identified a number of charges which were raised to businesses which have now changed hands or no longer operate. These charges are valued at $1,010.00 and are recommended for immediate write-off.
Property by Law Enforcement - Council’s Property by Law Enforcement Module covers charges raised by law enforcement, predominantly relating to overgrown allotment administration and contractor charges. Council’s current process is to notify the property owner if their property becomes overgrown giving them the opportunity to address the issue themselves. If the issue is not addressed within the given timeframe, Council corrects the environmental issue and on-charge the costs to the property owner. Council’s outstanding balance in this module is currently $27,535.54 which sits in 90 days overdue. Council recommended an immediate write-off of $3,407.29 comprising of: $514.50 of fees relating to properties that have been sold and original owners cannot be contacted and $2,892.79 being unrecoverable as the company has been liquidated.
Infringements - Council’s infringement module captures charges that are raised as fines, with a majority of the current balance relating to animal fines. In accordance with Council’s new Infringement Procedure, stating all debts are written-off Council’s Income Statement at the time they are submitted to SPER, it is Council’s recommendation that the full amount of outstanding infringements that have previously been registered with SPER be written-off against the provision. This will return Council to a position where the only debts that are outstanding in this module are those debts that Council are actively chasing. The full amount of outstanding infringements that have been previously registered with SPER and therefore recommended for immediate write-off is $118,900.33.
For further information regarding the write-off of unpaid debtors please view the Agenda Report presented to Council’s May General Meeting as listed on Council’s website, contact Council’s Finance section on 4189 9100 or email Council.
