Liverpool Plains Shire Council to apply for permanent rate variation from IPART

The council will apply to independent pricing watchdog IPART for a permanent special rate variation of eight per cent to maintain the fees and charges residents already face.

Residents first copped the rate rise in 2021, when council applied for a two-year temporary rate variation which was to be removed from the rate base at the end of the 2023 financial year.

Cr Hawkins said it was essential the eight per cent variation be made permanent to "maintain and get on" with the shire's road network.

"If we lost it I think it would be almost impossible for us to maintain our roads in any sort of condition," he said.

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"The bulk of the money will be spent on roads, if not all of it."

Council have been handed a rate peg - the maximum amount they can raise rates - of 3.7 per cent for the 2023-24 financial year.

But by maintaining the variation it is anticipated council will be able to generate a further $334,000 in the 2023-24 financial year.

Since the rate variation was introduced, Cr Hawkins said council had been able to double the expenditure on roads, but most of that work had been "washed away".

"We would have been coming out in front now had we not have had the rain events," he said.

"Liverpool Plains Shire Council is delivering more for less.

"However there is still the need to secure the level of funding necessary to ensure that we can continue to maintain and renew our asset base."

A series of community consultation meetings will be held in November, details can be found on the shire's website.

Council will need to submit an application for the variation by February 3 next year.

Walcha council has also applied for a special rate variation, which if approved would increase rates by close to 56 per cent across three years.

The shire's road network has been torn apart in the past month after a series of flood events hit the region.

If the permanent variation is not approved by IPART, council will be forced to restrict spending on services including swimming pools, gyms, parks and gardens and sporting facilities.

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