Fees, Charges Rise 2 Per Cent

June 13, 2013

South Burnett residents will face an average 2 per cent rise from July 1 for using most council services after the South Burnett Regional Council passed its 2013-14 schedule of fees and charges on Wednesday.

The council’s “Register of Regulatory and Cost Recovery Fees” covers things such as impounding charges, camping fees at council-run caravan parks, public hall hire, building fees and many other routine services.

The fee rises were in line with last year’s CPI rise.

This year the council also introduced:

• New annual swimming pool passes for adults, children, families and seniors

• A conference projector hire service

• Five new soil tests which can be conducted at the council’s soil testing laboratory

• A new registration fee for backflow prevention devices, and…

• Fees for the disposal of dead animals at waste facilities, based on the animal’s weight

One proposed price increase which didn’t win acceptance, though, was a suggestion to raise the cost of promotional banners strung over roads from $197 to $350.

Council officers explained the reason for the suggested price increase was that a study found it cost the SBRC $700 to string up and later take down a street banner.

This was why council staff often left event banners up,  even if the event had passed, until a new banner needed to be mounted, officers said.

Most of this cost was tied up with the need to comply with workplace health and safety requirements.

But several councillors were not convinced.

Cr Cheryl Dalton said she wasn’t happy with the proposed increase.

“Many of our smaller clubs and groups might only make $1000 out of an event,” she said.

“An increase like this might make their ability to advertise their event unaffordable.”

Cr Barry Green said that while he didn’t doubt it cost staff $700 to put up and take down a banner “on paper”, he questioned how much real cost was actually involved.

Mayor Wayne Kratzmann wondered if there might be a better way to help local groups publicise their events rather than stringing up banners over roads.

Cr Cheryl Dalton agreed, and suggested the current $197 fee remain in force while councillors looked at other options.

Cr Damien Tessmann said if Cr Dalton was thinking about an electronic sign, he couldn’t back the idea.

“As I understand things, these types of signs cost $25,000 or more. I couldn’t support that,” he said.

But Cr Deb Palmer said she was thinking about the types of signs used by many schools, which were much cheaper.

In the end, Cr Keith Campbell suggested the banner fee be left where it was for the moment while councillors looked at alternatives.

All the other 2013-14 fees and charges were passed unchallenged.

  Council