As you may know, for the past several weeks the Lennox Head Chamber of Commerce has been consulting with its members and the local business community regarding the proposed eight per cent special rate levy for Ballina Shire businesses.
Under the proposed levy, commercial property owners and/or tenants would pay an average increase of $250 per business on their annual commercial rates notice, with the pooled funds being used by local chambers of commerce to implement business promotion and development initiatives, both shirewide and in their area.
We have considered your feedback, including emails and letters from local businesses, outcomes of a public consultation meeting on 27 November and many informal conversations with business owners.
Property owners and some tenants have also completed an online feedback survey regarding the levy, issued by Ballina Shire Council. We would like to thank those who took the time provide their feedback.
While we can see the potential benefits of the proposed business levy, it is clear that there is currently insufficient support for the initiative by businesses in Lennox Head.
The main reasons provided were that business owners wanted the freedom to continue investing in marketing and development activities on an individual basis.
There was also a lack of trust in the funds being administered by Ballina Shire Council and a feeling that not all business types would benefit from the initiative.
Based on this feedback, the Lennox Head Chamber of Commerce will advocate to be excluded from the proposed levy.
We encourage businesses in other parts of the Ballina Shire to provide their feedback directly to their local chamber of commerce on the issue of the business levy.
We would also like to remind you that the chamber’s only revenue comes from its membership fees, which are just $132 per year, which is less than $3 per week.
This small investment allows the volunteer committee to organise a range of activities to support local businesses, including events such as the Love Lennox Carnival, workshops, and 18 networking events every year.
We will soon be launching our 2014 membership drive, so we ask that you strongly consider re-joining or becoming a new member of the chamber of commerce.
You can join online now at our website, www.lennoxchamber.com.au, and we will issue you an invoice in January.
The more members we have, the more we can do to support our local business community.
If you have any further enquiries about the business levy, or the process we took to arrive at our decision, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0488 247 887 or [email protected]
Kiri Dicker, president, Lennox Head Chamber of Commerce
