Rate rise is deception
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All councillors, with the exception of councillors Inness and Leslight, voted with local representatives Neil Burnside and Lindsay Brown for a crippling, compounding rate rise.
It would appear that the Magnificent Seven had previously caucused on this recommendation. The public is demanding to know which “phantom” sent another unsigned report to all resident and non-resident ratepayers.
To confuse you it describes your “general rate” as being an “environmental levy”. You and I know that it is nothing but a tax on your hard earned home.
Some 6000 properties have had their properties devalued by the Magnificent Seven and are on the road towards junk value. The seven will argue that it has been valued by the valuer-general and remains the same because of the global credit crisis.
The truth is that at the time the valuer-general did not take Section 60 A of the Land and Valuation Act into account and the hazards associated with sea level rise and coastal hazards.
Correspondence from the valuer-general indicates that the council did not send them addition information when requested: a new depth of deception by the “fat cats”.
They forgot to tell the public that the equivalent of two thirds of the rate rise will go towards employee costs and benefits.
I issue a challenge for a public meeting because the timing of the rate rise decision leaves very little room for public and media challenge. The submission has been sent to the regulatory tribunal (IPART).
It was a done deal before the meeting. The writer tried to have all details of the staff submission be forwarded to all resident and non –resident rate payers. Of course the protectors of the people did not have the moral fortitude to move in those terms and even refused discussion.
There is one last chance: residents may make their own submissions to IPART. It must be lodged before March 16. Confirm details on www.ipart.nsw.gov.au
Peter Bernard
Dalmeny
Council “owns” rate rise
On Tuesday February 10, by majority vote, Eurobodalla Shire councillors resolved to make a “submission” to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), a state government established body, seeking IPART’s support or endorsement for a general rate rise in the shire above what would be normally supported with the CPI or cost of living increases.
Local councils can’t just charge what they like in general rates. At present the state government supports a “cap” at CPI estimates that is in the order of 2.5 per cent at the present time.
IPART does not require councils to increase rates or their fees and charges at any level. Increases are a decision made by the elected councillors, and even if IPART supports a submission made to the organisation, the final decision on any increases is made by the elected councillors.
If the council finally goes ahead with any increase at all it’s the elected councillors responsibility not IPART’s.
Allan Brown
Batemans Bay
How high the sea?
Last year, the Eurobodalla Shire Council set up a joint venture with the Shoalhaven Council to prepare a uniform south coast regional sea level rise planning framework. Our mayor wrote to 53 other councils inviting them to join in and adopt this brilliant initiative.
Last Tuesday, the Shoalhaven Council adopted a 2100 sea level rise projection of 36 centimetres based on expert local advice.
Last Tuesday, the Eurobodalla Shire Council adopted a management plan for the Tomaga River estuary using a 2100 sea level rise projection of 98 centimetres, based on the extreme recommendations of the Whitehead report.
If you were a new coastal home buyer or a coastal property investor looking to buy or invest on the south coast, where would you put your money?
It is not hard to see why the Shoalhaven is moving forward and the Eurobodalla is drowning in its own council policies.
Ian Hitchcock
Dalmeny
Streetscape protest
I would like to thank those locals and visitors who spoke to me on Saturday at the Narooma streetscape official opening.
They were surprised and shocked that our local council would allow the sale of guns in a public building. This was in addition to their disbelief that Narooma would hold a “festival of hunting”.
I am not a “lunatic fanatic” or an “urban guerrilla” as I have been portrayed through letters to the editor. I am but one of many concerned ratepayers in the Eurobodalla Shire who object to these decisions taken by our council.
To those who thought our passive demonstration on Saturday was “hijacking” of a public event, I would say it was a last resort.
Not since my university days have I felt a need to demonstrate publicly about a cause that I am passionate about.
However, when all formal processes of protest appear to be exhausted, it is time that the general public deserve to know how these council decisions will not only affect them, but the town of Narooma and the whole of Eurobodalla Shire.
To the mother who thought our signs were frightening for the young children: what is more frightening, a printed sign with a rifle on it or the real thing on display and being sold alongside photographs of dead animals hunted for sport?
Please show your support by liking and sharing facebook.com/SAFEFarSouthCoast and facebook.com/GunControlAustralia
Heather Irwin
Narooma
Support Red Cross Calling
As Australia prepares to commemorate the landing of the first ANZAC troops in Gallipoli 100 years ago, we ask that you also remember the work of Red Cross by supporting Red Cross Calling during March.
Just like the thousands of Red Cross volunteers who worked so hard to support our ANZAC troops in 1915, Red Cross volunteers still continue to care for those who need it most.
By making a donation or organising an event for Red Cross Calling during March, you can support the everyday work of Red Cross such as working in NSW bushfire relief and recovery centres, making daily phone calls to elderly Australians living alone, providing breakfast for children who might otherwise go to school hungry, and supporting young parents.
In years to come, many people will continue to turn to Red Cross for help in times of crisis and we’re determined to be there when they do.
Red Cross Calling is the one time of year when local Red Cross members, community groups, schools and individuals can all work together to raise money for Red Cross through local fundraising events.
To make a donation, or to find out how you can get involved with Red Cross Calling go to our website at www.redcrosscalling.org.au or phone 1800 008 831.
Jody Broun
Executive Director NSW
Australian Red Cross
IPART last hope to beat rate rise
Our council is to put a 21 per cent rate rise to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). This is despite admitting a large majority of their ratepayers oppose it.
Their excuse is that citizens are demanding improved infrastructure projects. But in their own costly Micromex survey ratepayers emphatically said they did not want these things if it meant a huge rate increase.
At Kianga we get a viewing platform on Carters headland. The headland is a natural viewing platform, or was before much of it was covered with woodchips, cement and contaminated mulch. A beautiful open green space, easy to maintain, has been ruined by a council obviously with money to waste.
The recent cut in interest rates has further diminished incomes for pensioners and self-funded retirees. They can’t afford a double whammy. The rate rise will flow through to rental price hikes and businesses will have to put up prices to cover their rate hike.
Council claims to have made significant savings in a raft of areas so one would imagine we wouldn’t need a rates rise.
Each year council got a rise of around three per cent which is greater than almost all of its ratepayers. If it can’t cope on this it is a case of mismanagement.
IPART is now the final hope. One of the three main criteria for them approving the rise is “the community capacity and willingness to pay high rates”.
Being predominantly retirees, having a large welfare population and a very low average income, our shire does not have the capacity for this callous rise. But then, you would have thought council would have realised this?
Surveys and petitions and submissions are clear: most ratepayers have no willingness to pay. Let’s hope IPART does their job.
In conclusion it saddened me to see our local ERA councillor Neil Burnside betray his ERA colleagues on the rate rise issue. Neil was voted for on the ERA platform of protecting ratepayers from disadvantageous policies.
To think Neil has now jumped into bed with the pompous group of councillors and the mayor, who have made an appalling job of directing this council for a good number of years, is disappointing.
Neil was elected as an ERA councillor and I will watch with interest to see how many votes he gets when he is just Neil Burnside at the next election.
If you are unable or unwilling to pay our shire’s obscene rate rise lodge you submission on line at www.ipart.nsw.gov.au, or write to Local Government Team, IPART of NSW, PO Box K35, Haymarket Post Shop NSW 1240.
Bruce Rapkins
Kianga