The "three Rs" of roads, rates and rubbish are stand-out features of the City of Launceston council's Annual Report. The document - adopted at this year's annual general meeting - reviews the council's performance for the 2022-23 financial year, recording metrics from attendance at council meetings to its overall financial position. This was an operational deficit of $3.44 million, however when other forms of income like grants for capital grants were accounted this became a $4.1 million surplus. It also includes a snapshot of what the $79,210,000 residents paid in rates and charges got in terms of service, with the council saying it responded to 25,289 service requests over the 12 months. Waste management made up more than one fifth of these, at 6582 requests. This was followed by parking issues at 5020 requests, and roads and footpaths leading to 3052 requests. Issues with nature strips were the least-commonly reported, with the council responding to 321 requests. Deputy mayor Hugh McKenzie said the previous financial year had been a busy one, and the council was aware there were "still a number of things that we still need to do and get right". "The council has been very busy across all of its areas," Cr McKenzie said. "Whilst we don't always meet community expectations on the things that we do, we continue to try to improve what we do." Cr McKenzie said the council's financial position at the end of the financial year demonstrated "good stewardship" of the city's finances, even if there was still work to be done to reach a budget surplus. The deputy mayor noted although the council was prepared to sell the Birchalls building at Brisbane Street for $2 million less than it paid in 2020 it had not actually taken the loss yet. Cr McKenzie said future plans for the site - expected to be announced in 2024 - would lead to a result that was worth more to ratepayers than the dollar amount. "(The loss) is yet to be realised," he said. "What people don't understand is we actually bought a building but we're actually moving and selling something which is actually different than the building that we bought. "Hopefully, sometime in the new year we'll see that our Birchalls acquisition will actually add significantly to the fabric of Launceston, and its surrounds." All councillors present at the December 7 annual general meeting voted to received the report. Councillors Tim Walker, Joe Pentridge, Andrew Palmer and Susie Cai were absent from the meeting.
