Review Today produces four reports on council’s future financial sustainability; being three detailed technical reports and the fourth a general overview report.

The three Technical Reports cover:

• Infrastructure (2 reports): A brief assessment of the general standard of the Council’s asset management policies, processes and systems against best appropriate practice and GHD’s sustainable benchmark; a consolidated overview of the condition of existing physical assets based upon condition data submitted by Council; the extent of any present renewals and maintenance backlog; the effect of council’s proposed annual renewals and maintenance expenditure on the future asset base condition; the annual requirement for future renewals and maintenance expenditure over a 20 year period based upon council’s specified intervention levels; any expenditure gap between council’s proposed and GHD’s recommended required annual renewal and maintenance expenditure; possible future growth in the asset base as a result of 3 scenarios - council proposed growth, growth driven by the economy and growth driven by population. This report is produced by GHD based upon condition data and financial information provided by Council.
   
• Finances & Funding (1 report): The standard of the Council’s financial governance policies and processes; the present condition of its finances relative to the LGI’s recommended benchmarks; its total expenditure outlook under present and alternative infrastructure and service provisioning scenarios; the financial sustainability of each of these scenarios under present and alternative revenue raising options; and its capacity to have infrastructure enhancements funded through debt funding (and so by future rather than existing ratepayers) within responsible fiscal limits. This economic and financial report is prepared by TreEnt Advisory Services using the GHD report for its infrastructure data and accessing the Council’s annual financial statements, annual budget and medium to long-term management plan for financial data and planning assumptions.
  

The General Overview report is in the form of a PowerPoint presentation which summarizes the combined findings, conclusions and recommendations of the technical reports presented in a plain English style with illustrative charts so as to be intelligible to non technical management and staff, councilors, citizens and the state government. The presentation is most useful for communicating the core messages, findings and recommendations to lay audiences in private or public meetings.

The overview is prepared by Professor Allan. Using his interdisciplinary skills he integrates the technical reports into a single pithy presentation that sums up the Council’s financial viability under existing and alternative infrastructure and service spending scenarios and revenue generation options. The report also discusses possible ways forward.

Review Today’s methodology is consistent across all councils and is strictly evidence based, but its process is highly consultative. It works closely with a council to understand its infrastructure, services and financial needs. A council is given ample opportunity to contribute to and comment on the sustainability review before the final report is produced.