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The Ministry of National Development (MND) released the town council governance report for the 2021 financial year, covering April 2021 to March 2022.

All town councils banded "green" for corporate governance

For FY2021, all 17 town councils in Singapore were banded "green" for their corporate governance indicator.

Town councils that scored below one point will be banded "green".

Those that scored one to below two points will be banded "amber", and those that attained two points and above will be banded "red".

Two town councils flagged for administrative errors

According to the report, Pasir Ris-Punggol and Jurong-Clementi town councils each had a "low severity non-compliance" with town council rules.

In September 2021, Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council had incorrectly allocated a portion of the Lift Replacement Fund matching grant to residential property, instead of commercial property.

The town council later rectified their accounting records in the next month.

For the April to June 2021 quarterly transfer, Jurong-Clementi Town Council had under-transferred the amount to the sinking and lift replacement funds bank account due to a computation error.

The shortfall in the transfer, however, was rectified in the next quarterly transfer.

These non-compliances were "first-time administrative oversights" that have been rectified, said MND.

Both town councils scored 0.5 points for its corporate governance scoring.

As the total score for each town council was lower than one point, they were each banded "green" for corporate governance.

Town councils faced "significant cost pressures"

According to MND, all 17 town councils had unqualified financial statements for FY2021. This means that the financial statements of each of the town councils are presented fairly.

While the town councils have generally reported surpluses for FY2021, they faced "significant cost pressures" due to higher energy prices, higher manpower costs and higher costs of maintenance services.

To help the town councils meet their operational costs, MND said the government has been providing grants, such as the S&CC operating grant, GST subvention grant, lift maintenance grant, and lift replacement fund matching grant.

The government has also provided S&CC rebates to HDB residents to help them cope with the rise in cost of living.

It will continue to monitor the town councils' financial positions, taking into account these cost pressures.

From FY2021, the annual Town Council Management Report has been split into two reports — the operational report, which was released on June 29, 2022, and this latest governance report.

The methodology for assessing the corporate governance indicator has also been revised to consider the severity of observations, and not just the number of observations, explained MND.

Top images via the town councils' websites.