3MDR Mountain District Radio

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General Meeting

for the 2023/24 Financial Year

24 November 2024

I am pleased to once again present the audited financial statements and Treasurer’s Report for the year ending 30 June 2024.

Comments on Balance Sheet

• Trade Debtors comprised the 2024/25 CBF grants offered but not yet paid in June 2024 and invoices sent to presenters in June for 2024/25 membership fees. 
• New computers, sound equipment, portable codec and a defibrillator were purchased during the year and were entered as Property, Plant & Equipment.  Correspondingly, Depreciation increased from last year based on the new purchases and a full year’s depreciation on the server purchased early in 2023.
• We had a satisfying Net Income for the year.  This is not a profit, as some of those funds will be expended in 2024/25 from grants received in 2023/24.  But we’ll take the pat on the back for a good year.

Comments on Profit and Loss

Income

• Sponsorship income was 65 percent higher than the previous year.  Grants income increased by 126 percent.  This is a direct result of the fantastic efforts of Station Manager Nat Grant and Engagement Coordinator Ren Cuttriss-Garry.
• Donations were also up, attesting to the value our listeners place on the service we provide.

Expenditure

• Non-wages related expenses were overall less than the previous year.  A large part of that is due to a correction in September 2023 of our studio site electricity bill initially received in May 2023
• Cleaning and site improvement & maintenance was back to a normal level after the large expenditure in 2022/23 for the garden renovation covered by a grant from Yarra Ranges Council.

Cash on hand

In June 2023 we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $87,000.  At 30 June 2024 that figure was around $152,000.  The end of year cash includes some grants not yet expended.  It is expected that all of the unexpended grants received by 30 June 2024 financial year will be expended in 2024/25.

Membership fees

The 3MDR Rules of Association specify that the business of the Annual General Meeting includes that the members “confirm or vary the amounts (if any) of the annual subscription and joining fee”.  This is interpreted to mean “membership fee”, as the term “subscription” for our organisation does not infer the rights of a member to participate in the decision making of the organisation.  In addition, there is no joining fee, just a full membership paid for a full year from the time the application for membership is accepted by the Committee of Management.

At this time there is no recommendation from the Committee of Management to modify the membership fees for 2024/25, currently $66 (inc.GST) for a full membership and $44 for a concession membership.

The auditor

The confusion caused by registration for GST in July 2023 had mostly settled by the end of the year, thanks to the calm advice of our auditor Andrew Harper of HBT Advisory who talked me back from the edge of panic so often.  Looking back, it wasn’t really so bad.

Andrew has once again done a standout job with our annual financial statements and I recommend we keep him on board.  To that end, I propose the following:

Motion:  That HBT Advisory be re-appointed as 3MDR auditor for the 2024/25 financial year.

Coming up in 2024/25

A number of new fundraising initiatives are under discussion for implementation in the 2024/25 year.  I urge all members to answer the call when volunteers are needed for these events.  The more enthusiasm you display through participation, the more people we can entice to buy tickets/ merchandise/ radio related services and become members/subscribers/donors/sponsors.

Nat and Ren will be assisted this year by Kylie (Moss) Arndt, an actual qualified bookkeeper (which I am not, but I am suitably experienced), who will wrestle our finances into order.  I wish her the best of luck.

This is my last AGM with 3MDR, as I will be leaving the Committee of Management at this meeting, after four years’ service.  As American broadcaster Walter Cronkite said on his retirement, this is but a transition, a passing of the baton.   It has been an honour to help strengthen the station for its next leap forward, and a privilege to serve with this wonderful team of dedicated volunteers and staff.

Barbara Baxter

Treasurer