Byron Council ‘doesn’t have the money’ to pay the $260,000 increase in the Emergency Services Levy foisted on it by the state government, and will have to consider cutting programs or staff, Mayor Michael Lyon says.
The ink was barely dry on Council’s draft budget earlier this month, when the new Labor state government announced that the 128 councils across the state would be hit with levy increases.
The increases are the government’s attempt to pay for a 73 per cent rise in the State Emergency Services budget and an 18 per cent jump in the Fire and Rescue NSW budget.
Cash-strapped mayors across the State are up in arms over the eleventh hour increase, and have rallied together to try and fight it, sending a flurry of letters to the government.
Byron Shire Council resolved to join the letter writing club at its last meeting.
It will tell the government that its decision will lead to a ‘reduction in important local services and the deferral or cancellation of necessary infrastructure projects’.
There will also be a call for the government to decouple the levy from the cap on Council rates so that councils can recover the full amount from residents.
But so far, these demands appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
‘It’s unconscionable really,’ Cr Lyon said during last week’s Council planning meeting.
‘We don’t have the money.
‘I know it doesn’t sound like a lot. For the State Government $260,000 is a pittance, but it’s not for us. For us $260,000 is three or four staff in key critical positions.’
‘Obviously, we need to see an increase in the emergency services budget, but I’m not sure why councils should be footing the bill for that.’
Speaking four days after the meeting, Cr Lyon said if the government refused to back track on the levy increase, Council would be left with the unenviable task of finding further savings in its budget.
‘We’ve already had to make savings in so many areas owing to the floods and covid before that,’ he said.
‘It’s very difficult to decide which program is more important than another.’
The Mayor also indicated that he would be moving forward with his plan to increase revenue by introducing paid parking in Brunswick Heads.
‘We’re doing the intercept survey at the moment…to get a better idea of the types of people who come to the town,’ he said.
‘We’ve already done the congestion analysis.
‘I don’t think there’ll be a Council vote [on the issue] before Christmas – hopefully by Easter next year.’
The state government says the levy increase is the fault of the previous government, which included the increase in the calculations for its pre-election budget, but failed to communicate this publicly.
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