Ballina Crs Kiri Dicker and Simon Chate have defended Ballina Council’s proposed rate rises, which have been championed by Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and others, in the face of recent criticism from former B Ward Cr Jeff Johnson.
Jeff Johnson’s comments can be found here.
Cr Kiri Dicker says she’s been contacted by numerous concerned individuals, and wanted to address his claims, which she describes as ‘untrue or deliberately manipulated’.
In a recent blog she writes, ‘Jeff claimed that “Council has banked $10 million of rates in term deposits”. This is false. It is true that Council has cash investments ($116m at last count) and it’s true that they are held in short term deposits, but this money is not rate income.
‘There are lots of reasons why Council has cash in the bank. For example, when we receive a large grant or profits from the sale of land, we need to put it somewhere until it is spent. Surely residents would not begrudge Council such as basic financial strategy as putting cash in term deposits to maximise interest instead of it sitting in the bank?’
Cash investments
Cr Dicker goes on to say that, ‘While the total value of Council’s cash investments might sound substantial, it’s worth pointing out that the value of cash investments held by Council decreased by $18m between 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2025, as Council expended funds on key infrastructure projects,’ she said.
‘When these cash investments do earn interest, it is distributed to a range of reserves. Some of these are restricted by legislation and the others are quarantined by Council to fund community projects and services, such as the aptly named Community Infrastructure Fund.’
Cr Dicker notes that some of the things this fund has been used for recently include:
- The new Ballina SES Building.
- The new Ballina Pump Track.
- The soon to be built Alstonville Cultural Centre.
She says that contrary to Jeff Johnson’s claims, income from ordinary rates is not used for commercial investment activities. Council uses profits from commercial developments to fund capital for future commercial investments.’
Property portfolio
‘It is true that Council has a large commercial and residential property portfolio,’ continues Cr Dicker. ‘It was most recently valued at $29m. This includes land that we sell or develop and lease. Key investments include land and buildings in the Southern Cross Industrial Estate, the Russellton Industrial Estate and our residential land at Wollongbar and Lennox Head.
‘Increasingly, as this property portfolio is exhausted, we are gearing our investments to generate recurrent income. For example, we are about to embark on an exciting project to construct rental housing on Council land in Wollongbar.
‘These investments and the income they generate provide significant value to ratepayers and are the reason why Ballina’s rates are 11 per cent lower on average than similar sized Councils in NSW and significantly lower than our neighbouring coastal Councils. They should be celebrated, not criticised.
‘Jeff’s suggestion that Council should whittle down its cash and property investments to directly fund recurrent services makes bad financial sense.
‘It’s like suggesting that someone to tap into their super to pay their rent. It might seem tempting but it’s going to come back to bite you in the long term.
‘Land sales and interest from investments may supplement rate income and keep rates low but they do not replace the need for a sustainable rate base. In addition to one-off infrastructure projects, Council needs funds for recurrent expenses, including loan payments, salaries, maintenance of our huge asset base, waste collection etc.
‘It is these recurrent expenses that our current rate base cannot meet, evidenced by cumulative operational losses for the last five financial years totalling $9.4m. If the profits from one-off land sales are excluded, the accumulated losses for the same period are $26.2m.’
Cr Dicker’s detailed response to the rates issue can be found here and here, but she concludes by saying, ‘Residents deserve a Council that demonstrates sound financial stewardship. Not one that makes bad short term financial decisions just to win a political popularity contest.
‘The special rate variation has been consistently recommended to Councillors, not only from staff, but from our Independent Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee. Even if it is implemented, it will not eliminate our funding shortfall. Council will still need to make further savings to allocate additional funds to asset renewal.’
Less than the price of a cuppa and a piece of cake
Cr Chate told The Echo, ‘The main point I’m keen to get across is that for the average residential ratepayer, the recommended special rate variation will only amount to an additional $166 over four years – that’s $41.50 a year or less than the price of a cuppa and a piece of cake per quarter!
‘While I understand the community concern, this percentage rate rise (around 2.75 per cent on top of the yearly IPART rate peg) is not a large one and was chosen specifically to be a very manageable adjustment.
‘It will provide Council the much-needed funds to bring our general reserve more quickly into the black and ensure we can continue to maintain existing infrastructure and services, and undertake our various ongoing scheduled projects,’ said Cr Chate.
Ballina Council is set to make a decision about the rate rises in the near future.
More stories about Ballina Shire Council:
Twelve Northern Rivers residents are celebrating the completion of a groundbreaking program designed to build essential skills and unlock employment pathways for women in civil construction. With local government meeting practice across the state returning to confusion following the NSW Legislative Council's recent decision, Ballina Shire Council's last meeting included a lot of unanimous decisions and an argument about the remnants of the Big Scrub, in which Mayor Cadwallader used her casting vote to squash Cr Simon Chate's motion. Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has approved Ballina Shire Council's application to increase its general income through a permanent special variation (SV) of 26.25% [in rates] over four years, from 2026-27 to 2029-30. Byron Greens members could expect to be asked to take the future of the Richmond River further south into account when choosing a candidate for next year’s state election. Local business owners in the Alstonville and Wollongbar townships are being encouraged to take the time to read through Ballina Shire Council’s draft plans, which are currently on exhibition.
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