Council unveils immediate economic relief measures
TOOWOOMBA Regional Council has unveiled the first of its economic relief measures as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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TOOWOOMBA Regional Council has unveiled the first of its economic relief measures as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CEO Brian Pidgeon has advised that the council will immediately implement some economic relief measures.
Mr Pidgeon said the council will pause debt recovery for all outstanding rates and charges through to the end of the financial year.
He said council would continue to offer payment arrangements and encouraged people to contact the council if they needed to be varied.
Fees or charges for forward bookings of council facilities, where events have been cancelled, will be refunded.
Mr Pidgeon said the council would seek quotations from local businesses when procuring works and services up to the value of $200,000.
He also said the council had amended payment terms for local suppliers to be reduced from the council's normal term of 30 days to 14 days, from April 1.
Mr Pidgeon said current caretaker provisions relating to elections meant that a raft of further initiatives could only be considerd following the swearing-in of newly elected councillors.
All three mayoral candidates have promised to institude a number of economic relief measures, to varying degrees, if elected.
"Our Caretaker Period Protocol precludes the current council making decisions during the caretaker period that bind the incoming council, particularly where there may be large financial commitments," Mr Pidgeon said.
"I'm sure the incoming council will have a strong opinion on the extent of local economic relief it should be providing to our community. Council's support initiatives will need to complement Federal and State Government economic relief packages which are still evolving.
"There will be a suite of additional initiatives presented to the incoming council to consider in conjunction with their ideas and new initiatives.
"We will keep our community and businesses informed as council rolls out further relief initiatives over the coming months."
Originally published as Council unveils immediate economic relief measures
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