Council says a 36.3 per cent rate rise is the 'responsible' thing to do

Mayor Russell Webb addressed the media the morning after council voted to submit the proposed rate rise to the state regulator for review.

"We're between a rock and a hard place. There's not a councillor that sat around that table last night that wants to put the rates up, but we know it's the responsible thing for running this LGA," he said.

For months, Cr Webb has been warning the community that years of cost-shifting practices from the state government have been building up to the point where council has "no choice" but to raise rates.

"If we don't do this, the pitfalls are close to $180 million in the red over the next 10 years. We don't want to take our community into that situation," he said.

"I don't want to be part of a council that's going to leave that negative legacy for my kids and my grand kids to come."

The mayor stuck to his guns on the rate rise despite 97 per cent of public submissions sent during community consultation being against the proposal.

"I think a large percentage of those submissions were from people outside our area, with postcodes outside of our LGA," Cr Webb said.

He said the 853 negative responses council received are not representative of the views of the broader Tamworth Local Government Area (LGA).

"What about the other 60,000 people that live in our electorate? They haven't made submissions," Cr Webb said.

But he said an important thing to come out of the community consultation period was the addition of a rebate for pensioners and those on income support.

If the rate rise is approved next year, council will give $50 back to qualifying residents in addition to the State Government Funded existing rebate. It would then increase to $100 in the second year and beyond.

"We listened to the community and councillors all felt that whilst the rebate the [state] government provides used to cover about half of the general rate, the portion you get now isn't enough,"

"We decided if we are going to go for the special rate variation, we can cover an amount of that increase [for pensioners] through an extra rebate."

Critics of the plan are calling on voters to vote out all seven councillors who supported the rate increase, including the mayor.

But Cr Webb said he stands by his decision.

"If we made decisions at every council meeting based on our opportunities to get re-elected, we would never make the right decisions," he said.

"While many of the decisions we may make might be very unpopular, we have to make a decision that is a responsible decision for the long-term benefit of the wider community."

But two councillors had a different view of responsibility at the council meeting last night.

Longtime councillor Mark Rodda and new councillor Steve Mears were the only two to vote against the proposed rate rise.

The newer councillor said his decision was informed by consulting with members of the public, many of whom "simply can't afford it".

"I did not seek election to council to be the third tier of the tax collection system ... I have received pressure to tow the line, and I will not," Cr Mears said.

Former deputy mayor Cr Rodda said his objection comes from a mix of concerns council isn't doing enough to tighten its budget, and the fact that Tamworth's service and waste charges have already gone up.

"There's far too much waste on employing staff through job agencies and expensive consultants to justify decisions staff don't want to make," he said.

"Our vehicle fleet is bloated, as is the organisation."