Rates hold

By Melissa Grant
CARDINIA Shire ratepayers won’t cop a 7 per cent rate rise as first feared, with councillors set to announce a smaller increase when they adopt council’s 2009/10 budget on Monday.
The previous council had flagged a rate increase of 7 per cent for the coming financial year – but mayor Bill Pearson this week told the Gazette the rise would be closer to the previous 5.8 per cent rise.
“I would be hoping for a similar outcome, if not the same, to last year,” he said.
Funding for long-awaited bypasses of Kooweerup and Lang Lang will be included in the council’s capital works program.
Cr Pearson said it would be one of the council’s “biggest years for putting out infrastructure”. However, debt reduction will be put on the backburner as councillors look to reduce the burden on ratepayers in the economic downturn.
The council will adopt its 2009/10 budget on Monday (4 May) after months of deliberation.
Cr Pearson said it was the toughest budget he had been involved in his time on council.
“We’re certainly looking at the percentage of rate increases and what we can do,” he said.
“It’s the single hardest thing to look at because of the tight economic times – if we don’t get sufficient money to do our maintenance people will be screaming out about roads.”
Cr Pearson said the council could reduce rates without shedding its staff.
“We’re not going to sack any staff,” he said.
“We won’t be adding to the unemployment queues and we don’t want to be strangling ratepayers with high rates either.”
The council will continue to fund major projects announced in last year’s budget including Holm Park Road recreation reserve, Webster Way tennis centre and the Bunyip auditorium project.
The council will fund the replacement of four bridges along Manks Road, Dalmore. It will also commit funds for Kooweerup and Lang Lang bypasses, even though the state and federal governments are yet to commit money to either project.
Cr Pearson said the council was crossing its fingers that those higher levels of government would follow suit.
“We’re hoping both sides of politics will put their differences aside and getting those up and running,” he said.
“From safety and community living standards they’re critically important.”
Cr Pearson said debt reduction was important but wasn’t achievable in the coming year.
“We won’t have a lot of money for debt reduction (2009/10) but we will have a strategy for four years,” he said.
“We can’t be taking money from hard-hit ratepayers and put it aside for debt reduction.”