REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday March 13, 2010

THE budget battle between the Gold Coast City Council’s bean counters and its finance chief was heating up after city hall bureaucrats doubled councillor Eddy Sarroff’s 2.5 per cent target rates rise.

But council officers’ calls for new and increased levies meant ratepayers would face a total rates bill of at least 10 per cent more than the previous budget.

While some Gold Coast councillors were adamant the general rates spike would not exceed 2.5 per cent, they admitted there was nothing they can do to stop levies blowing out.

Council officers presented a draft budget which included a proposal for increased refuse charges and a new drainage levy.

Finance boss Cr Sarroff refused to reveal the proposed levy amounts, saying it would be ‘misleading’ to release the figures ‘so early in the piece’.

Mr Sarroff likened the growing stoush between councillors and bureaucrats to a boxing match ‘with many more rounds to come’.

But bureaucrats appeared to have won it, demanding additional levies, increased charges and a 5 per cent general rates increase – double the target Mr Sarroff had flagged earlier.

In 2009 the council managed to limit the general rates rise to 6.55 per cent, but with total rates and higher charges, ratepayers were paying 10.7 per cent more overall.

With the increased refuse charges and a new drainage levy on top of existing ones, a 5 per cent rates rise was expected to mean paying at least 10 per cent more in rates and charges.