Bellingen Shire Council is applying to IPART for a special rate variation. If successful our rates will go up by 6 per cent this year (that is 1.5 per cent rate peg + 4.5 per cent).
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And, council needs to increase our rates by these percentages every year for seven years to qualify as FIT FOR THE FUTURE.
The 4.5 per cent variation will only just cover the 3.2 per cent wage increase the BSC staff have been given.
No community consultation and no transparency. It takes the first 300 households-farms-businesses annual rates to pay the estimated $580,000 wage packages for the three senior staff in council.
$11,153 a week for three people. The salary package expenditure for 2014-15 for BSC was $9.7 million. Rateable income, including water and sewage charges, was $12.2 million. Salaries accounted for 79.8 per cent of the rateable income. By comparison Nambucca Council was 58 per cent and Coffs Harbour 51per cent.
Rather than making our community pay for the increase in wages and administration, we believe an independent, forensic audit is required to remove unnecessary management and administration as has occurred in Coffs Harbour and elsewhere, to bring salaries into line with neighbouring councils.
To oppose the rate rise, go to Bellingen Shire Council