Tweed residents face even higher rates bills with council voting in favour of applying for a bigger hike.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) had already approved a 4 per cent rate increase for Tweed Council.
However, council wants to raise rates by a further 2.35 per cent.
The motion was overwhelmingly supported by councillors and was passed 6 votes to 1.
It’s the first time in 10 years that Tweed Council has applied for a special rate increase.
It opted not to apply for a bigger rate hike last year because of the floods across the northern rivers.
“Times are tough for many in our community and the last thing we want to do is put additional financial pressure on households,” Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry said.
“But, just like everybody else, Council is subject to the rising cost of living and we can no longer absorb these increased costs. Council is looking internally to see where we can reduce costs but without reducing services, this is very difficult.
“We can’t allow our services to slip and our Shire to go backwards and we can’t run to the State Government with our cap in hand – we need to consider this special rate rise seriously, with the added information of how we can make savings elsewhere.”
If approved by IPART, Council will vote on the special rate increase in June.
