Councillors debate rates increase

July 2017 | Sharon Webb

MEANDER VALLEY Council rates will increase by 2.8 per cent in 2017-2018, but irritated ratepayers should be aware it could have been more.

After vigorous debate at the June meeting, councillors decided to increase rates according to the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI).

That means council rates and fees will jump by only a small amount - including development fees, building and plumbing permits, tip fees, hall and recreation facility hire rates and even cemetery fees.

Cllr Bob Richardson put a motion for a four per cent rates increase, closely followed by a motion by Deputy Mayor Michael Kelly for a 3.5 per cent increase.

Neither was successful in the end but both councillors argued good reasons for their stance.

One of the main reasons for not increasing rates was that farmers had suffered during the 2016 floods and needed to regroup without extra costs imposed by Council.

For Cllr Kelly the floods issue was a good reason to increase rates; much of Council’s substantial surplus had been used in dealing with flood outcomes, a payout of $1.2m.

“We need to replace those savings for a future rainy day,” he argued.

“An increase of 3.5 per cent is not gouging; government and utility costs are going up rapidly, much more than that.

“The community expects us to do more with less money. When it comes to the difference between rates in Launceston and Meander Valley there is a gap – we’re already playing catch-up.”

Cllr Richardson’s argument for a rate increase was also forward-looking: “Meander Valley is in the fortunate position of growing still, unlike councils such as Launceston.

“Hadspen, Prospect Vale and Westbury are growing – how can we cater for that growth?  We need to introduce a policy to develop facilities and services across the municipality with equity.

“The 2017-18 budget fails to address this and I won’t support it.”

But Cllr Rodney Synfield commented that the average income across Meander Valley was only $34,000.

“We need to take care with the way we form our rates,” he said.

Cllr White also supported deferring a large rates increase but commented that ratepayers’ expectations were high.

“It’s our job to balance that,” she said. “But if we think we’re going to keep up with customer expectations, it’s an illusion.”