Corangamite Shire approve 3.5 rates rise despite outburst

Deputy mayor Geraldine Conheady told Tuesday night's meeting rates were a vexed issue and had been addressed in a submission from a ratepayer.

"But rates do represent 40 per cent or thereabouts of our revenue and that is returned to our communities in the form of services and upgrades and renewals," she said.

"Everyone accesses the services of the Corangamite Shire and they're a necessity. We are bound by state government rules and the rate cap."

Terang resident John Glazebrook then interjected Cr Conheady and said it was not correct the council was bound by the state government's rate cap.

"The councils are not bound by the rate cap, that is a lie," he said. "What do you think Warrnambool council has done?"

Mayor Ruth Gstrein asked Mr Glazebrook to take his seat or she would have to ask him to leave and the council then moved to suspend standing orders and the live feed was cut.

Mr Glazebrook said it was wrong if the council thought it was compulsory to have a 3.5 per cent rate rise.

Corangamite Shire chief executive officer David Rae approached Mr Glazebrook and told him he was welcome to stay but couldn't interject during the meeting.

Mr Glazebrook said he wouldn't sit and listen to lies and Cr Gstrein again asked him to leave the meeting, which he did.

The council meeting resumed and Cr Conheady said the council was bound by state government rules around the rate cap with the council not allowed to go above the cap but there was the opportunity for some variation.

"We do try to make the system fairer by application of differential rates," she said.

Councillors unanimously adopted the budget, which contains $66.95 million of operating and capital expenditure and will deliver a $3.79 million operating surplus.

The budget will include a rates increase of 3.5 per cent and will also see the council remain debt-free for a sixth year.

Cr Gstrein acknowledged the frustrations of farmers with high land valuations.

"The issue quite often is when people have a lot of assets but not a lot of cash and they're paying massive rate bills, we're certainly very conscious of that," she said.

Cr Gstrein said recent state and federal budgets had shown how tight it was across the board.

"In Corangamite Shire we know people are doing it hard, we've seen massive spikes for gas and electricity. If you're experiencing financial difficulty, don't just ignore the rates bill - please come in and talk to staff and we can work out a payment plan for you," she said.

"We don't want anyone under any undue pressure."

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