Whatever Logan is thinking I'll never know, with what could very be the largest rate rise of any council in Quieensland to smash working families finances without any real increase in service provision to justify it and if anything in our area cuts to services which have been evident since the amalgamations becoming thread bare if any.
The increase well over 7% is something that many ratepayers will struggle to afford and something that make you wonder how they (the council bean counters and councillors who vote for it)rationalise that we can afford to just keep on paying more rather than making council more efficient and cheaper to run.
A breakdown of the increase :
The residential general rate in the dollar has increased from 0.3076c to 0.3237c (as part of Council’s three-year
policy to counter-act valuation increases).
• The minimum general rate has increased $48 from $551 to $599.
• The increase of general rates and levies for the majority of ratepayers is $73, after discount. Residents who
also have garbage, will pay an additional $79 after discount.
The absolute slug to ratepayers, using what everyone knew would be used, the property valuation increases, as an excuse and the slug of the extra bin that no one wants will be a bone in the throat for many ratepayers who will consider very carefully how they vote next time around.
Our three representatives especially.
9 comments:
One minute they said the council mergers were supposed to save money then they said it will cost over $50 million. The mergers were done so Beattie could feel good about himself.
It's about time the state government reigned local government in but expecting Bligh to do anything properly is like expecting a miracle.
Given that Logan's rate base has increased, more rates going into their coffers, it is very difficult to understand the huge hike in rates.
Its ok for Crs who keep getting huge wage increases every year. But I guess in order to maintain their lifestyle we have to keep paying.
Yes, there has been very little, if any improvement in services in the old BSC area. In fact looking back over the past couple of years we have only had more grief passed on to us. The garden issue, the truck parking issue, the bridge issue, the potholes, etc etc. The list just keeps going.
One has to wonder what will happen when Flagstone and Yarrabilba are developed, will it cost the rate payers millions to keep Logan 'looking' good?
We're already getting nothing but the shaft from Bogan, and now they wanna charge us more for it. It's about time we all started complaining to . . . . . who?
Who's going to listen, the councillor won't, the council itself does nothing even when you call tham and the state just wants to go back to the property boom. Once Flagstone and Yarrabilba start Bogan will have no money left for our potholes and bridges, and no doubt a councillor would prefer the company of developers to us grumbling ratepayers.
What's this with the the garden issue and the truck parking issue? I've heard something about it but haven't been able to get accurate information on it.
1) The garden Issue ;
The Div 11 councillor has for several years (including some time in Beaudesert Council) attempted to make Market gardens inconsistant with the town plan. It never happened in Beaudesert , but the issue carried over to Logan and eventually they made some sort of regulation that lots under 8000 m2 had to apply for a DA to operate a market garden.
2) The Truck Parking issue,
Logan has tried to get a consistant regulation accross it's new areas that is the same as it is in Woodridge even on rural lots. Once again I think it's areas under 8000 m2 who have to apply and PAY A FEE to park a heavy vehicle on their own property. Despite there being defined descroiptions of what a heavy vehicle is, Logan has decided that it will use it's own, and has decide that vehicles over 4 tonne are heavy.
These regulations have been seen by the residents in general (obviously not the ones whinging about market gardens or trucks) of the newly aquired rural areas as an infringment of the as of right use that exists on land previously not in LOGAN, and if tested, would probably be found to be right. However since Logan is a highly money oriented council, (a fee for everything) it may cost you more that it's worth to take on the fight.
Logan has been called the Truck hating council by some owner opperators and with good reason, in Bogan itself it is even against some bilaw to park a truck in the street. God only knows how you're supposed to run a busines in transport and be profitable enough to pay the fees and charges and the constant rate increases in Logan with their backward attitude.
The Woodridge (Logan) council needs to get into the real world and instead of trying to appease the vocal minority (usually the councillor's pets) do what is needed for the majority.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up one morning and say Logan is a good place to live in? But that will never happen.
It is by far the worst council area in Queensland - only a handful of people will disagree.
Looking back over the years the only good media coverage has been generated by the council itself - the rest has been scandal and controversy.
So why are they allowed to continue to govern? Perhaps while people are focussing on the bad things in Logan they are too busy to look at the other levels of Government. But you know what the flack stops with the Premier and State Government. They can put an end to this circus called Logan City Council.
This is not a place for families and children.
In other words the council is going too far and getting full of itself. A council should only be providing services to the local community and freeing up the state government to do more complex things. Instead we get councils being used to live some peoples visions, like Campbell and his tunnels or various Sydney councils who invested ratepayer money overseas only to lose it during the global financial crisis. The ratepayers are seen as a cash source and given no say. Time to find out exactly who they are and vote them out.
The truth is that the local press are to blame for not completely covering the stories and exposing the real councillors to us. Reading one paper this week made me laught at the audacity of the editor to allow it to go to print with a blatent falsehood in one part that would eb well known to that editor.
Without real press who are not afraid to expose the real stories and not afraid to publish the real facts, we have to rely on blogs for the truth.
I don't know what we'll do if the local blogs shut down, lets hope they don't.
Unfortunately some blogs have already been forced to shut down. It seems that our local pollies feel very threatened by the truth getting out there.
They seem to forget that there is more than one way to get the truth out - internet, telephone and telewoman!
So no matter how hard they keep trying the word will be spread.
Post a Comment