By NOEL MURPHY
CAPPING council rates will backfire on residents, especially in growth areas such as Armstrong Creek, Torquay and Barwon Heads, South Barwon MP Andrew Katos has warned.
Lashing out at State Government plans to cap council rates next year, he said the “populist stuff trying to win votes” would be compounded by $39 million in funding cuts to councils this year.
“This isn’t a freeze in funding, it’s a cut, and capping rates will mean more cuts – to infrastructure and services – when councils can’t finance them,” Mr Katos told the Independent.
“This year’s state budget has no dollars whatsoever for Armstrong Creek and no dollars for Torquay, there’s no infrastructure spending there. The only infrastructure spend at Armstrong Creek is land and funding for two schools that we financed in the previous government.”
City Hall borrowing will blow out from $36 million to $81 million in its budget announced this week but rate capping will restrict its ability to repay debt while pressuring its spending on services and capital works.
Mr Katos said the former Kennett government’s rate-capping had proven the idea was unsuccessful.
“It’s very easy to say cap rates but rate-capping was tried in the ’90s and it didn’t work.
“A local government authority might, say, have an EBA for staff in place that might be on three per cent but if rates only go up 2.5 per cent then obviously you either need to cut a service or not build or maintain infrastructure.”
Mr Katos said the upshot would be seen in frustrated residents at growth sites such as Armstrong Creek lacking in sports, community and other facilities.
He said the need for Barwon Heads Road to be duplicated was already obvious but warned voters would “see through it” if the State Government kept holding back on spending until the next election.
