The aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate whether New South Wales (NSW) local government councils comply with Australian Accounting Standards in accounting for revaluation of their infrastructure assets and (ii) to assess any consequences for the reliability of financial reporting in NSW local government. Using road assets as an example, we analyse the results of revaluations of road assets undertaken by 89 NSW councils as reported in their financial statements during the period 2013 to 2016. In this analysis we focus on the effect of a change in accumulated depreciation and impairment loss component of fair value as a percentage of the gross replacement cost of the revalued assets. The analysis reveals that in most cases this effect is significant. However, the accounting and reporting of this effect is strikingly inconsistent between the councils. Based on a critical analysis of the accounting framework and disclosure of the revaluation effects, we conclude that the main reason for the change in the fair value of assets is altered estimates of remaining useful life. Furthermore, we argue that councils did not comply with the requirements of AASB 116 in determining the useful life of the assets.

中文翻译：

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新南威尔士州地方政府基础设施资产评估和折旧中的会计问题

本文的目的是双重的：（i）调查新南威尔士州（NSW）地方政府理事会在对基础设施资产进行重估时是否遵守澳大利亚会计准则；以及（ii）评估财务报告可靠性的任何后果在新南威尔士州地方政府。以道路资产为例，我们分析了89个新南威尔士州议会在2013年至2016年期间财务报表中所报告的道路资产重估结果。在此分析中，我们重点关注累积折旧和减值变化的影响公允价值损失占重估资产重置成本总额的百分比。分析表明，在大多数情况下，这种影响是显着的。然而，各委员会之间对这种影响的核算和报告明显不一致。基于对会计框架的严格分析和重估效果的披露，我们得出结论，资产公允价值发生变化的主要原因是剩余使用寿命的估计变更。此外，我们认为，理事会在确定资产的使用寿命时不符合AASB 116的要求。