Behind closed doors, North Sydney Council writes off a 150k debt

On Monday night North Sydney councillors voted in a closed door session to write off  $195,392 in two outstanding debts from the January to March 2026 quarter. 

One bill was for $150,864 and the other for $44,528. 

What happened: At their May meeting, North Sydney councillors received a quarterly report on council’s property portfolio. While the public are able to read a brief summary, the actual report is confidential, as is typical with documents relating to a council's commercial dealings.

Within this report are the details of nearly $200,000 owed to the council. On the recommendation of the council’s Chief Financial Officer, councillors voted on Monday to write these losses off. 

A spokesperson for North Sydney Council told the Lorikeet the debts related to organisations that had since entered liquidation, and that there was “no reasonable prospect of recovery”.

How does that work: Given council’s wide remit and ownership of local buildings and other infrastructure, it conducts business with many entities, including as tenants and contractors. It also issues many parking fines. 

On occasions, councils maintain it makes more financial sense to write off a debt than chase it. 

Councillors also have the ability to waive or reduce rates if a hardship appeal is made. These matters are all kept confidential.