'Council should be sacked,' residents react to rate rise approval

Tamworth Regional Council voted 7-2 in favour of the increase on Tuesday night, enacting the first half of a plan to increase rates by 36.3 per cent across the next two years.

Businesses in Tamworth are set to cop the biggest average increase at about $877 for the 2024/25 financial year.

"I mean, $900 effectively on the bottom line just increases the pressure on small businesses. Some businesses don't have the luxury of affording that expense," Sonny's Cafe co-owner Anthony Daniels said.

"That'll mean an increase of prices, which isn't favourable for the community."

Another CBD business owner said they can't understand why council would decide to put the rates up at a time when "people are already struggling to afford a cup of coffee".

"I expect to see more shops close down because the cost of everything keeps going up and people only have so much money to spend, and council doesn't seem to care," they said.

Ratepayers the Leader approached on Peel Street were even angrier than the business owners.

"It absolutely stinks because they put up the rates to repair the roads, but if they hadn't wasted money they'd already have it for the roads," local ratepayer Jenny Kinball said.

Some suggested what Tamworth needs is a fresh slate of councillors.

"I can understand rate prices have to go up, but not the ridiculous amount they're doing. It should be long-term, not this year and next year, but the next five or six years," another ratepayer told the Leader.

"This whole council should be sacked."

Ratepayers and residents will have the chance to express their discontent at the local government elections in September.

"We know who to vote in next," local resident Liz Murray said on the Leader's Facebook page.

"We need younger people to stand for council. No old ones, anyone 35-55 ready to put their hands up," Sue Coutman also commented.

When asked about his election chances, Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said sometimes making unpopular decisions is part of good governance.

"I'd probably say it's not the right time to do it [the rate rise] if you want to get elected, but it is the right time to do it in terms of guaranteeing what you can deliver for the LGA into the future," Cr Webb said.

Since September last year, Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) has been having conversations with the public about the potential for a 36.3 per cent special rate variation.

During the community consultation period more than 870 submissions were received. In addition the Tamworth Regional Residents and Ratepayers Association started a petition against the proposal which gathered more than 3000 signatures.

Multiple councillors, including the mayor, have said the negative feedback represents a vocal minority.

"Across the Tamworth LGA there are 36,000 rateable properties, about 30,000 ratepayers all up. 800 to 900 submissions wasn't a large percentage of our rateable population," Cr Webb said.

"97 per cent of them said they didn't want it, but people aren't going to write to council and say 'we want a rate rise.' It's probably only a very small percentage of our population."

When asked if council should do more community consultation to reach a greater percentage of the population, the mayor said it's up to residents to make their voices heard.

"I think people are very aware of what they can do. They do know we have websites, they do know that you can jump on the TRC website and have your say. It's whether people are prepared to take the time and actually put some input into that and make a submission,"

"We did go out into the community. We spoke to every community in this region. Those that turned up were able to listen to a presentation on what it's going to look like and what our thoughts were on it. I think we did the best we could in terms of consultation."

TRC has had a "Special Rate Variation proposal fact sheet" online since September last year. The fact sheet does not list many of the cuts councillors would consider making if the SRV wasn't approved

According to a leaked internal memo published by the Leader on Monday, those options would've included closing "at least" one regional library, scaling back the Tamworth Country Music Festival, or reducing road repairs and maintenance at "increased risk to human life".

Cr Webb said those potential service cuts were not shared with the public because the leaked document was "an early overview" for councillors to consider.

"If you put that out to the public or to the media, people are going to start seeing reds under the bed. They'll start saying 'council's going to do this or that' when it's really not going to happen," he said.

The mayor also said he guarantees none of the drastic cuts to services in the leaked memo will come to pass.

"You can throw that piece of paper in the bin because none of that is of any relevance any more," Cr Webb said.