Call for better service

JENNY Hill has done the right thing by delivering a general rate cut to Townsville residents today.

By any measure, our city has endured — economically at least — one of the toughest years in living memory.

With the jobless rate stuck well above 10 per cent until very recently, we have been suffering a regional recession.

So, having finally bitten the bullet on a long- overdue clean- out of Townsville City Council’s bloated bureaucracy, Cr Hill is delivering a city- wide dividend for that pain.

To put this cut in perspective, it’s the first reversal in rates since Townsville and Thuringowa councils merged in 2008.

Of course, not all people who live here are landowners.

We have a higher than average proportion of renters who will not directly benefit from the rate cut.

However the reduction will deliver an indirect benefit by reducing landowner costs, which in turn reduces any upward pressure on rents.

For those lucky enough to own a home, the cut amounts to about $ 50 for an average rates bill.

That is offset by a reduction in the early payment discount from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.

That reduced discount is permanent, bringing it into line with the vast majority of councils in Queensland.

It is part of a structural overhaul of the council’s finances that will place it on a pathway to sustainable surplus by 2019.

Most ratepayers have received that early- bird reduction, but those households struggling the most have not.

At least this cut will be delivered to 100 per cent of ratepayers, those on Struggle Street as well as those on Yarrawonga Drive.

And all ratepayers also benefit from Cr Hill’s decision to again freeze any CPI increase in general rates, which would have added about 2 per cent or $ 20 to the average notice. The utilities component of the rates bill, which includes recycling, sewage and water, will rise by the CPI, adding $ 20 to the overall average bill.

But the bottom line is that overall, assuming a homeowner’s land value stays the same, rates will come down.

That’s a welcome and timely relief. I WAS interested in reading the news on landlines and dumb phones, ( Townsville Bulletin, 23/ 6) especially following the recent Telstra news on “cutting hundreds of staff to improve customer service”.

Those in the community, the vulnerable, isolated and aged rely on landlines to connect to the community, medical and emergency services.

Telstra seemed to be focused on sales and profit to pay their hierarchy over- the- top incomes and bonuses.

The decreasing on- the- ground workers appear to walk around, tablet in hand and trying to look important, unable to assist and not able to give customers any news on waiting times for problems to be fixed.

If information is forthcoming it is generally conflicting and not helpful. It is stressful for those few staff members who want to do their best with unsatisfied customers.

The NBN does not appear to have a clue as to what is happening and where the process is at. Customers who are not IT savvy are left in limbo. The offshore help lines are worse than useless, difficult to understand and if the query is outside the usual rote answers, all is to no avail.

Should one manage to find an Australian Telstra number, the general runaround occurs. The entire day can be taken up holding the phone and is never a rewarding exercise.

The days now appear to be filled with scam and nuisance calls. It has become a minefield. If a private number appears on phone logs and answer phones, call back at one’s peril, risking personal, abusive and financial issues.

In these times of impersonal and random contact, surely progress should be able to enact some courtesy and safety measures with callers providing information such as 1. Name. 2. Com- pany. 3. Job Position. 4. Employee number. 5. Am I speaking with? Hospitals should also have a phone ID other than “Private” and a general number to safely return queries and confirmation to. BARBARA IRONS, Condon.