address deficiencies

The Editor

Dear Sir,

I support a rate increase.

I have been on Councillors' and the general manager's backs for 18 months about deficiencies in funding and getting the brush off.

Slow learners!

Let's hope that for the 16 per cent of ratepayers who are pensioners, those of a socialist orientation on Council do their duty by their constituents and get their mates in the State Government to come to the party with some suitable additional rebate for them.

At last, the general manager's comments reveal why Council dips into the water and sewer funds to finance general infrastructure and in due course the architect of that unjustified scheme will get a well deserved heave-ho at the next election.

This six per cent charge is designed simply to get around the Minister's rate pegging cap for the general fund.

Really we have had a general rate increase equivalent to this charge of about $750,000 per annum for the last four years - that is $3 million.

But let's not think that one rate increase is the end of the finance problem.

Hanging over the Shire's head is the need to find $3.6 million at least to unlock $7.75 million of developer's contributions in a suitable time frame or otherwise risk having those contributions returned to the developers.

Not only does the general fund finance need to be addressed, but staff have already told Councillors there are substantial funding needs to be addressed in the water and sewer funds which have been milked so far of $3 million by the six per cent charge, so let's have that on the table now so we know fully what is in front of us in terms of the total rates and charges which ratepayers face.

Ratepayers should insist that Council comes clean with the whole funding story that faces the Shire for the next five years.

And let's remind Councillors, especially Crs Murray and Whipper, that what we have been suffering due to the parlous infrastructure to which Mr McGowan refers, is a result in substantial measure of the $1.5 million diverted to the environment levy for which we have not seen any demonstrable benefit, nor will we for a very long time yet, if ever.