North Burnett ratepayers face 22 per cent council rates bill increase

Homeowners living about four hours north of Brisbane have been told a monstrous looming rates hike will likely be just the start of their pain, as the local council falls millions of dollars in the red.

A planned average rates bill rise of 22 per cent by North Burnett Regional Council (Mayor Les Hotz and CEO Craig Matheson inset) is proposed to be only the start of a series of yearly hikes it says is necessary to keep the organisation running.

A planned average rates bill rise of 22 per cent by North Burnett Regional Council is proposed to be just the start of a series of massive annual hikes it says are necessary to keep the council alive.

Councillors have been asked to support the rates rise to help keep the council financially afloat, with a staff report on this year’s budget warning that even with the double figure increases, the council will run at an $8 million loss in 2025-26.

Under the proposed budget to be voted on next Monday, most ratepayers will be hit with a 19 per cent average rates rise, while those on the minimum general rate will cop a 25 per cent increase.

When coupled with other fee and levy increases, the report says most ratepayers can expect their rates bill to rise 22 per cent.

This amounted to finding another $31.49 every fortnight.

A planned average rates bill rise of 22 per cent by North Burnett Regional Council (Mayor Les Hotz and CEO Craig Matheson inset) is proposed to be only the start of a series of yearly hikes it says is necessary to keep the organisation running.

The report says the council is aware the proposed rates rise will “generate substantial feedback” from the community.

Even with the hike, the council’s budget this financial year would still fall short, though.

Its long term financial sustainability has been on shaky ground for several years, with the audit office continually labelling North Burnett council at a “higher risk” of trouble owing to ongoing operational losses in the past decade.

The council’s last operating surplus was recorded in 2016-17.

Even with the rates hike, it would run at an $8.03 million operating loss in 2025-26, the report says.

The council needed the hike to fix a “longstanding structural issue” with its budgets, meaning they repeatedly failed to raise enough money to cover the council’s actual expenses.

The cost of running the council in 2025-26 was expected to be $68.95 million.

The council’s long term financial sustainability has been on shaky ground for several years, with the state’s audit office continually labelling them at a “higher risk” of trouble owing to ongoing operational losses for nearly a decade.

Outlays of $19.1 million for staff wages, $19.1 million in asset depreciation costs and $31.3 million on materials and services have contributed to the cost, the report says.

It says the council is now in a position where its costs are growing but not the ratepayer base, due to stagnating population growth.

Unfortunately, it would be impossible to bring the council’s books back into balance in one year “without having an unsustainable and potentially dire impact on ratepayers”.

This had forced the council to implement a “staged approach” each year to bring its bottom line back into the black.

The 2025-26 budget does not forecast this to happen until the 2033-34 financial year.

Raising rates is not the only proposal in the budget to help achieve this, the report says.

The council is also proposing a freeze on job numbers within the organisation, no expansion to its vehicle fleet, and disposal of council-owned buildings.

Councillors will vote on the budget on Monday, July 7.