The report was released at this week’s Griffith City Council meeting, and it lists the expenses of each of the individual councillors.

It is the first report of its kind in Griffith council’s history and it will continue to be released into the future, but will not apply retrospectively to previous years.

This is the first report to ever break down spending by individual councillors, and reporting in this format will continue on a quarterly and annual basis.

The report shows that in the July to September quarter council collectively spent just under $11,000, which is a thrifty amount according to mayor John Dal Broi.

“What this proves is the expenditure by councillors is very, very conservative,” Councillor Dal Broi said.

“It should keep the criticisers quiet, [but] I doubt it.”

Councillor Simon Croce said there had long been suspicions in the community that councillors had been all too happy to whip out the plastic at every opportunity.

“There’s a perception that councillors are pretty easy when it comes to spending other people’s money,” Cr Croce said.

“It’s fairly obvious from the report that that’s not the case.”

The report will not cover the spending done in previous years, but Cr Croce said council has nothing to hide.

“There’s never been any problem at all; it’s pretty strict up there, and everything is audited.”

An independent auditor currently conducts regular credit card reviews, which are then reported to the audit risk and improvement committee, which in turn reports to council.

Griffith City Council is one of the few local councils that currently does so, and there is a push by NSW Government to have other councils follow suit.

NSW Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton announced a statewide council audit after the former general manager of Hay Shire Council Allen Dwyer rang up a credit card debt of $500,000.

Cr Dal Broi said that he welcomed the change, adding that council had “nothing to hide” and that more transparency was a positive change.