I recently received an overdue notice for my rates which I found quite shocking not just because of the aggressive appearance of the notice (no respectful reminder, but large assaulting red capitals), but also because I make regular fortnightly payments to cover my rates, and any amount due on my last bill would have been covered by the next payment. So I went to see the Acting Manager to see if anything could be done to make these notices more in keeping with Bellingen’s open, progressive ethos. What I discovered was really mind blowing.
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Paid employees have no control over the form of reminders re outstanding rates – the aggressive format is mandated by State Government. Regular payments are seen “informal” and are not trustworthy, and therefore are not taken into account when the computer generates the notice. Council’s computer system is so antiquated they cannot handle Direct Debit to counteract this problem. Ratepayers can enter into a formal arrangement which the computer will recognise, if they don’t mind being seen as doddering and incapable of managing their own finances.
I also found that there are other State government regulations which make the work of paid employees very difficult. Red tape means that Council reports are several times the size of those demanded of private organisations, meaning more labour to produce them.
While we applaud the convenience of, for instance, the Urunga bypass, the handing over of the Old Pacific Highway means an increase in maintenance costs and an immediate cost of depreciation to our finances, with no compensating additional funding from State government.
We all know that State government limits the percentage by which Council may increase rates each year. What we don’t know is that that increase applies to the total rates income for the Shire, and not to individual properties within the Shire. So when the Valuer General increases the value of Belligen property relative to, say, Urunga, the juggling that paid employees have to do to keep within the overall cap is quite mind boggling.
The possibility that Crown lands will be handed to Council for maintenance, with no additional funding, is another concern.
So, come the next election, there are a number of questions I will be putting to candidates.
Will Local Government regulations be altered to allow Councils to create their own user- friendly overdue reminders?
Will Local Government regulations be streamlined to make reporting simpler, more efficient and less labour intensive?
Will Local Government regulations be altered to allow Councils a simpler method of applying the percentage cap on rates?
Will the State government provide Councils with appropriate funding whenever a State or Crown asset is handed over to Council?
Whichever party includes this in their policies will be the party I vote for.
Phyllis Codd
Bellingen
