Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council to consider rate rise

Cash-strapped Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council will decide between three options to keep the books balanced. Find out what it could cost you.

Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council will consider raising rates to secure its financial stability. Picture: QPRC

Queanbeyan-Palerang residents could be stung with a rate rise as their cash-strapped local council searches for ways to secure its financial position.

Mayor Kenrick Winchester said the long term financial plan slated to be presented to the council on November 23 would include three scenarios for a rate increase.

Locals can now have their say on three options to designed to keep council’s finances afloat.

Mr Winchester said there were many factors that led the council to consider a rate rise, but warned there might not be any other option.

“As elected representatives, we have a duty to ensure council continues to pay the bills and provide the services the community expects from local government,” Mr Winchester said.

“We don’t want to reduce staff, we don’t want to cut services” Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Mayor Kenrick Winchester says Council will consider raising rates. Photo: Jamila Toderas

“We don’t want to reduce staff, we don’t want to cut services, we don’t want to close pools or reduce our maintenance budgets, but that’s the reality unless we do something about the income we receive.”

Council and locals will be able to choose between austere cutbacks to council services coupled with a 15 per cent rate rise over three years; moderate cutbacks to services with rate increases of 18 per cent over three years; or rate rises over 20 per cent for three years to maintain current services.

A council spokesman said Option A was not considered viable.

The council’s financial predicament comes shortly after Bega Valley Shire Council announced it would consider raising rates by 90 per cent.

Mr Winchester said before the merger both Palerang and Queanbeyan councils considered options to increase revenue.

“When the NSW Government merged the two councils, neither were in a financially sustainable position,” he said.

“The legislation stopped us from increasing our income or making some decisions to reduce expenses, like consolidating administration offices or staff.”

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council has not been allowed to raise rates for four years following the merger in 2016.

Mr Winchester said the usual rate increases set by Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal each year do not “come close” to meet the costs of doing “everything the community expects from us”.

“The costs of construction and materials for projects continue to increase,” he said.

“A truck full of gravel or hot mix are both harder to get and costs over double what it used to.

“Our staff costs continue to increase — we’ve had ongoing population growth and the costs to expand services is increasing more than the income received from additional ratepayers.

“We’ve also had additional costs from responding to multiple natural disasters and the pandemic.”

The mayor noted QPRC was not alone in suffering a tenuous financial situation.

“Over the last twelve years councils in NSW have been approved for 168 different special rate variations,” Mr Winchester said.

“QPRC is one of five merged councils that has not had a rate variation either pre- or post-merger and seven of the 24 merged councils have had SRVs in the last 2 years.”

The mayor said community members would be able to give feedback on council’s long-term financial plan until January 2023.

He said council planned to make an application to IPART in February 2023 following community consultation.

• Locals can have their say at www.qprc.nsw.gov.au/srv until January 31 2023.