Backlash as council compares rate rise to bread and cheese

An AI image posted to social media by the Bundaberg Regional Ratepayers Association after comments rate rises would cost the same as a loaf of bread or block of cheese each week. (Supplied: Bundaberg Regional Ratepayers Association) Queensland councils are juggling rising costs in their budgets and passing on affordable potential rate rises. Support services say households have limited capacity to absorb more costs. Local governments are asking for more untied federal taxation revenue, which has fallen to 0.49 per cent. Link copiedShareShare articleWhen Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn compared the cost of the city's rate rise to that of a loaf of bread or block of cheese per week, the backlash was swift. AI was used to generate images of mountains of the grocery items outside the council offices, as well as a South Park-inspired parody song. A screenshot of an AI-generated parody video about the Bundaberg Regional Council rate rises. (Supplied: Facebook) The minimum rate rise of 8.38 per cent scraped through council with a 6-5 vote, before the budget meeting was abruptly adjourned for a week after the first motion was voted on. As councils across Queensland begin delivering their budgets, they are juggling their own rising costs with the increasing squeeze on ratepayers' cost of living. Cr Blackburn said two years of zero per cent rate rises in 2020 and 2021 had put the council on a backwards trajectory, which had been hard to turn around. It is not just past decisions and financial instability the council is battling with. A fuel crisis, a devastating major flood in March and continued population growth are all competing for budget consideration. Helen Blackburn says rate rises are necessary to change the financial trajectory of the council. (ABC News: Grace Whiteside) "The fast growth of humans into our region means infrastructure needs to be upgraded and it should have been upgraded 10 years ago before the people came, so now we're sort of behind the eight ball," Cr Blackburn said. While council rates generally rise every year, when it is combined with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and fluctuating fuel prices, extra costs are getting harder to absorb. Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS) executive director of research and policy Bronwen Kippen said support services had seen a growing demand for food relief and fuel vouchers. "The cost of living is so high," she said. Ms Kippen said people were delaying having children, restructuring their households to afford rent and moving back in with family members or sharing with other people. "We're definitely seeing people making a lot of adjustments to try and accommodate the cost of living because they can't afford to have a lot of choice." The Fraser Coast is the fifth-fastest-growing local government area in Queensland, but Mayor George Seymour said more ratepayers did not necessarily ease the financial burden on councils. George Seymour says an increase in ratepayers doesn't offset the cost of the infrastructure needed to support new residents. (ABC News: Chris Gillette) "All the materials, all the works that we have to do for the infrastructure for our growing community have just skyrocketed," Cr Seymour said. Fraser Coast Council delivered a budget with an average general rate increase of 5.08 per cent and a new $10 million deficit. The rise equates to between $3.60 and $7.50 more each week, but, for Fraser Coast home owner Rebecca Matthews, the extra funds are not so easy to come by. Ratepayer Rebecca Matthews says it's getting harder to absorb rising costs. (ABC Wide Bay: Peta Johansen) Ms Matthews said she understood the need for a rate increase but was frustrated at the extra pressure it would put on her household. "I'm looking at the costs of fresh fruit and vegetables that I probably wouldn't have been doing so closely," she said. The single mum, who is working and studying, said after years of cutting back, there was not much flexibility left in her budget. "We're participating in less extracurricular activities, for example," she said. "I get a play sports voucher for one sport, but for him [my son] to do other activities, it's just costing me more money that needs to go to electricity or rates or whatever." Further west, residents of the North Burnett are bracing themselves for what is to come. Last year, council delivered a 25 per cent rate rise, the largest in the state, catching many residents by surprise. Les Hotz says a rate increase in the region won't be the 17 per cent initially forecast. (ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) Forward forecasts showed the council would need to increase this year's rates by 17 per cent, but Mayor Les Hotz said that was an unpalatable amount. "I don't believe our increase will be anything like that, but we've got to balance our budget with the increases we've experienced," he said. "Just like a normal household, things are going up for council and we can't sit back and i

Backlash as council compares rate rise to bread and cheese

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