Executive Director of the Local Government Association of Queensland Inc Greg Hallam told the GRC that the LGAQ had received a written commitment to continue the scheme prior to the recent State Election.

Cr Scheu didn’t wish to comment further.

“There’s not much else we can say,” Cr Scheu said.

Except try and make ends meet.

And to meet service commitments.

“The one thing that is painfully obvious when consulting ratepayers is that they do not wish to see a fall in service delivery. To do this Council needs to recoup the same amount of revenue as last year plus any increased costs that may occur,” he said.

The axing of the fuel subsidy alone will cost GRC $120,000 extra in fuel costs. The drop in interest rates has cost Council more than $500,000 in investment earnings while equalising wage levels across the three amalgamated council has cost $320,000.

To achieve that Council needs to raise 9.2percent on top of what it earned last year.

“The increase will not mean everyone’s rates will rise by 9.2percent as valuations play an integral part in deciding the final rates paid,” Cr Scheu said.

“There will be variances in all categories with winners and losers in each category,” he said.

That will be especially true with rural rates as Council is about to implement a whole new system in a bid to make rate paying more equitable across the region.

Properties will be grouped by size and valuation.

“This will mean that properties of similar size and valuations will pay the same cents in the dollar irrespective of where that property is situated,” he said.

The new system has posed a number of challenges.

Adding to this is new legislation which removes water as part of a property’s valuation.

Cr Scheu says the majority of these landowner’s rates will go down.

“We however still have to come up with a bottom line that allows us to continue to provide the services to ratepayers,” he said..

“We know how tough things are but we need to let people know that some things are out of our control.

“We are however looking at a number of practical solutions which may help us ease the rate burden,” he said.

That includes lobbying State and Federal Governments and even investigating a unique cross-border partnership with the Moree Plains Shire in a bid to decrease costs for both Councils.