June 16, 2021
South Burnett ratepayers can expect to face a 1 per cent rise in the general rate when the Council hands down its 2021-22 Budget.
However, rural ratepayers whose property values rose dramatically after the last round of property valuations in 2018 will face a bigger rise as their third year of rates averaging kicks into effect.
The decision to increase the general rate was made at Wednesday’s Budget Committee meeting but is still to be ratified.
Mayor Brett Otto argued the Council should introduce a zero per cent rate rise – the same as last year – because Councillors had unearthed enough savings during this year’s Budget deliberations to cover most of the cost.
However, other Councillors argued the proposed rise was still below last year’s 1.1 per cent CPI increase.
Not raising rates would be irresponsible, they said, because the Council would be forced to play “catch up” on CPI somewhere down the road if it introduced a zero rate increase.
They also said most ratepayers expected a rise and while no rise was ever welcome, a 1 per cent increase was still the second lowest the Council had delivered since it was formed in 2008.
Mayor Otto reminded Councillors they had expected the Council would be facing a deficit of $4.2 million when Budget discussions began.
However, this figure was now down to around $3 million and the cost impact of a second zero per cent rate increase on Council’s finances was about $300,000.
He believed that with several areas of Council operations still to be examined in depth, it was possible some – or all – of that money could be found elsewhere.
However, other Councillors disagreed.
Crs Gavin Jones, Roz Frohloff and Scott Henschen all said they were “comfortable” with a 1 per cent increase and prepared to wear any public criticism of it.
Cr Kirstie Schumacher said last year’s zero increase was in response to the COVID pandemic, not a long-term strategy.
While she understood that part of the Mayor’s concern was to make the region more attractive for new residents and businesses – a goal she shared – she thought it would be unwise not to reflect CPI increases.
When the matter was put to a vote, the decision to raise the general rate was carried 4-2, with Mayor Otto and Cr Kathy Duff opposed (Cr Danita Potter was absent from the meeting due to illness).
The final rate rise – and any other increases in charges – will be confirmed when the Council delivers its Budget on July 14.
[UPDATED with correction]
