A petition carrying more than 2,000 signatures calling for a three-year rates freeze failed to sway the majority of South Gippsland Shire councillors at Wednesday 17 June's budget meeting, but it did generate the meeting's most pointed debate.
Councillor Steve Finlay, the only councillor to vote against the budget, argued Council should be sector leaders in reducing rates rather than defending them. He noted out that South Gippsland's residential rates were between 6.5 per cent and nearly 40 per cent dearer than neighbouring councils, including Latrobe, Cardinia and Bass Coast.
"Some say the extra $500 or $1,000 per year in rates we pay in South Gippsland is only $10 or $20 a week more than, say, Bass Coast," he said. "And that may be okay for us who are financially comfortable. But for those on low incomes, families, or pensioners, it may not be okay." He called on Council to reject any rate increase and "cut the cloth to suit the measure."
Councillor Bron Beach pushed back directly, arguing the petition did not give signatories the full picture. "Rarely do petitions give the community the full story. Most of us have actually signed a petition because we like the idea of it, but do we actually understand the full context underpinning it?"
She said a zero rate rise would have saved the average ratepayer just $65 on their annual notice ($1.25 per week) but would have cost Council $1.335 million in the first year alone, or $15 million over ten years. "I hold the opinion that most people would not be prepared to take a $65 reduction on their rates notice if it meant losing services for our whole community."
Mayor Hersey echoed that view, saying there was simply no way to absorb the cost of a rate freeze without cutting further into services that the community relies on. "Quite simply, we're already going backward in real terms. With CPI sitting at 4.2 per cent, where on earth are we going to find that money and continue to provide the services that our people rely on?" Cara Schultz
