{"id":375168,"date":"2026-08-20T23:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=375168"},"modified":"2026-08-20T23:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:03:31","slug":"council-running-a-very-tight-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/08\/20\/council-running-a-very-tight-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Council ‘Running A Very Tight Ship’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SBRC CEO Mark Pitt, Mayor Kathy Duff, KCCI Executive member Susan Robertson, Deputy Mayor Linda Little and guest speaker Katie Mulder, from the Queensland Renewable Energy Council<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 20, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett mayor Kathy Duff has assured local businesspeople that Council is sustainable and running “a very, very tight ship”.<\/p>\n

The mayor was speaking at a Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry meet’n’greet, hosted by the South Burnett Regional Council, in the Kingaroy Town Hall Reception Room on July 28.<\/p>\n

Mayor Duff said Council’s 2.95 per cent rate rise for residential properties and 3.95 per cent for commercial properties were probably the lowest in Queensland this year.<\/p>\n

“I campaigned on affordable rates by cutting the waste, and that’s what we have been doing,” the Mayor said.<\/p>\n

“We have been delivering efficiencies where we can, we have found lots of places and we’re running a very, very tight ship.”<\/p>\n

She said Council had cut back spending on consultants.<\/p>\n

“Millions of dollars were being spent on consultants. We’ve been very careful to grow our own,” she said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We are now doing our own traffic control … we’ve taken over the Animal Management Centre … we’ve done a lot of internal reviews.<\/p>\n

“We’ve actually done a whole restructure of our organisation and this Budget we’re going to get the depots back in the towns and have locals working locally which will save on travelling costs and increase our efficiencies.”<\/p>\n

She said Council also had no new borrowings and had cut its borrowings from over $30 million in 2021-22 to $17 million in this Budget.<\/p>\n

“We’re proud to have delivered that,” the Mayor said.<\/p>\n

But she said massive savings could still be made from stopping waste going to landfills.<\/p>\n

Mayor Duff urged businesses to sort more recyclables from industrial and commercial waste, to stop it going to tips.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“That would be a major saving to our Council,” she said.<\/p>\n

Mayor Duff said the SBRC had a $34 million cash buffer and emphasised the forecast deficit of $3.5 million was “unfunded depreciation”, ie. assets that never have to be replaced.<\/p>\n

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Other guest speakers were:<\/strong><\/p>\n