ONE councillor says the events levy should be off the agenda for the foreseeable future with local businesses reeling from the drought.
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The events levy debate has resurfaced this week after Glenn Inglis said he hoped the council hadn't given upon the new business rate.
Since the conversation was restarted councillors have suggested the levy wasn't introduced at the right time, but there was still merit in the scheme.
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However, Mark Rodda doesn't believe the levy should see the light of day for a long time.
"I think that certainly not now and not for the foreseeable future," he said.
Cr Rodda said any impost on Tamworth businesses right now would be too much.
"The main concerns are businesses have everything they've got to pay to keep going, stock, electricity, water rates, wages, super, insurance," he said.
"And any added burden they don't necessarily need, as a council, we're going to struggle to sell that argument of benefits."
Do you run a local business? Do you think the events levy could be good for the region? Get in touch at mail@northerndailyleader.com.au
Other councillors have suggested the levy shouldn't pursued until the drought breaks and industry recovers.
There will be a council election next year which could also factor into the pursuit of the levy in the near future.
"We're just a year away from an election and to saddle a new council with essentially a new business tax ... I wouldn't be campaigning on that," he said.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal chair, Paul Paterson, said the council couldn't prove the community was fully aware of the rate rise and its purpose and rejected the rate rise for 2019-20.
"The Council did not provide information about the proposed [special variation] directly to all business ratepayers," the IPART report said.