{"id":312709,"date":"2022-01-31T19:19:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T09:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=312709"},"modified":"2022-02-23T12:46:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T02:46:46","slug":"saleyard-fees-to-rise-40pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/01\/31\/saleyard-fees-to-rise-40pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Saleyard Fees To Rise 40pc"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Council-owned Coolabunia Saleyards could be in for some much-needed upgrades after the SBRC voted to raise saleyard fees and charges by 40 per cent (Photo AL&L)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Deputy Mayor Gavin Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 31, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fees at the Coolabunia Saleyards are rising by 40 per cent to help bring the facility into line with other regional saleyards.<\/p>\n

An initial increase of 20 per cent will be applied from Tuesday (February 1) and a second 20 per cent rise will be introduced in the South Burnett Regional Council’s 2022-23 Budget.<\/p>\n

The decision to raise fees was suggested by the Coolabunia Saleyards Working Group, a committee made up of Councillors and Council officers tasked with planning a future for the Council-owned facility.<\/p>\n

At last Wednesday’s General Meeting, the group reported that after studying competing saleyards at Murgon, Biggenden, Dalby and Gympie they found the current fee structure was less than half what other facilities now charged.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report noted while it was difficult to directly compare saleyards because each had different business models, Coolabunia’s fees had not risen for a very long time and it was necessary to raise charges to generate money that could be ploughed back into upgrades and improvements.<\/p>\n

The report said that over the past five years the saleyards had lost an average $86,683 per year.<\/p>\n

A key aim of the increase would be to eliminate most – or all – of these annual losses.<\/p>\n

The report also listed several improvements the working group would like to make to the facility if its fortunes can be revived.<\/p>\n

These included:<\/strong><\/p>\n