Tamworth rates: here's where ratepayer dollars were spent last year

Paying rates is kind of like balancing a household budget, Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) mayor Russell Webb said, walking the tightrope between the expectations of the community and what's in the kitty.

"We are really constrained with the rates we charge, rate pegging constrains that and therefore it's a balancing act for your community with the bucket of money we do have," he said.

"We are so hamstrung by the rates we do receive and the service levels or expectations of the community, we have to match one against the other and that's difficult with small increments in rate rises.

"In the past few years those increases have almost been chewed up by the cost of insurance levies."

After water, the council spent the most money on sewer and a whopping $14.5 million upgrading roads, bridges and paths.

But with more than 3000 kilometres of road to look after, the council will need to find areas to cut back on to improve infrastructure, Cr Webb said.

"We're going to have to find some more revenue within the budget to spend on our roads within the region and the streets to get them up to a better service level than they are at the moment," he said.

"We spend so much money trying to maintain those assets and those figures get lost on the community, we are spending a fortunate on road maintenance at the moment."

Surprisingly, it spent more on sports and recreation than it did on waste, with $9 million forked out for improving the city's facilities to put it ahead of the ball game.

That's all part of a broader plan to put Tamworth at the forefront of sporting excellence in regional NSW, and the country, Cr Webb said.

"Tamworth is in the fortunate position to have some of the best sporting facilities in regional Australia," he said.

"It creates that brand of a centre of sporting excellence in regional NSW, and at the same time we're trying to promote healthy lifestyles and healthy living, so spending money on these top echelon facilities supports the people that use them and encourages others."

Revenue generated by the council is expected to provide at least 60 per cent of its income in 2021 to 2022.

The main sources of council income come from rates, annual charges, user fees and charges, interest on investments, fines and contributions.

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It spent the least on fire and emergency services, libraries, stormwater and drainage, planning and compliance and governance.

The community and cultural spend sat smack bang in the middle at $5.3 million, just less than the $5.9 million spent on economic development.

Cr Webb said he would like to spend more money on community and culture, but it's about finding it elsewhere.

"We will be developing some new programs, but we only have so much rate money and we have to spend that around the community to get the best outcome for the community, so where do you take it from?" he said.

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