South Burnett Regional Council adopted its new schedule of fees and charges for 2014-15 at its monthly meeting today.
Averaged across all charges, the rise is 2.5 per cent but some individual fees have been frozen.
The rise is in line with Australia’s inflation rate over the past 12 months and is only marginally higher than Council’s average 2 per cent rise in 2013-14.
The cost of camping at Council tourist or caravan parks, obtaining building permits, recovering impounded farm animals or buying cemetery plots will rise only marginally.
The cost of hiring halls or using Council saleyards has been frozen at last year’s rates pending a review during 2014-15.
Swimming pool charges will be standardised this year. This means adults at the Blackbutt, Wondai and Proston pools will pay 60 cents more per visit (40 cents more for children) but users at all the Council’s other pools will pay nothing more.
However, users of the hydro pool at the South Burnett Aquatic Centre in Nanango may face higher costs later this year.
The Council is considering introducing a $6 fee to use the hydro pool after learning that Toowoomba Regional Council charges $15 per visit to its hydro pool.
A final decision has been delayed after a protest from Cr Barry Green that the fee would hurt people who genuinely needed the pool for hydrotherapy.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann agreed with Cr Green, saying he’d like to see if patrons could recover the fee from their health insurance provider before the charge was introduced.
“If they can, then I’d agree with this charge. But if they can’t, then I don’t think we should impose it,” he said.
Cr Kathy Duff also lodged an objection to a proposed new charge for using air-conditioning at Proston Hall, and a steep rise in the bond for using the hall’s PA system.
The air-conditioning fee was removed from the schedule after her protest, and the bond halved pending a review of all Council’s hall charges.
The schedule of fees and charges covers both Regulatory Fees and Commercial Charges.
- Regulatory fees are charged for services that only Council can provide, and by law must be charged on a cost-recovery basis
- Commercial fees are charged for Council services which could be sourced from another provider (eg. caravan parks) and charged on what Council believes the market will bear
The schedule is always introduced in June for adoption on July 1 ahead of Council’s annual Budget which this year will be handed down on July 25.
