THE size of Cabonne Council's account reserving funds for future projects has been questioned, with one councillor saying the money should be spent.
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The council published its quarterly budget review, which revised the 2019-20 surplus down $678,000 to $2.6 million.
But councillor Ian Davison queried the reserves fund, which will contain $34.5 million by the end of the year.
"We seem to have a lot of money and a lot of projects each year that we carry forward and it's a matter of council asking management if they can really do the projects we have on our budget," Cr Davison said.
"And if we can't, what are we going to do about getting contractors? It seems to me $34 million is a lot of money to have in reserve."
General manager Brad Byrnes said some of the money would be spent by the end of the year as work was completed.
"It was a very ambitious capital budget to start with, we got more ambitious as we rolled over projects and additional grants appeared," he said.
"We're working with the engineers on what is a deliverable amount - we're confident next year's budget will have a much more achievable amount of capital."
The shortfall was caused after the council missed out on $2.4 million in federal funds to upgrade heavy vehicle routes, while more than $700,000 was returned to the state and federal governments after a truck wash at Molong was abandoned.
About $1.2 million for the Canowindra Retirement Village was also pushed back after Uniting Care pulled out of the public-private partnership in mid-February.
A Uniting Care spokeswoman said the organisation was unable to proceed with the project in its current form.
"It is increasingly challenging to support smaller villages in a sustainable way," she said.
"We are continuing to work with council and the residents groups to assist them to develop and implement a seniors' housing solution for the Canowindra community."
Government grants for a levee at Puzzle Flat, the Molong to Yeoval pipeline project and other roadworks offset parts of the shortfall.
However, the council was able to use the sale of its Southern Phone Company shares to fund the $499,000 Southern Lights project, a rollout of 794 LED streetlights, which is expected to save $75,000 a year in electricity and maintenance.
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