RATEPAYERS could be in for a shock when they check the mailbox next week.
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Staff at Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) have sealed more than 28,600 rates notices to mail to 817 postcodes, including overseas.
One Tamworth business is up for a $118,000 rates bill, while a residential block in Kootingal will have to cough up the smallest settlement in the region, at $173.
The council expects to collect $78 million in total rates and charges payments this financial year, with the average increase for mum and dad ratepayers between $48 and $98, mayor Col Murray said.
"It is our biggest ever budget with a total spend of $251 million due largely to the $106.4 million capital works program to improve local facilities and infrastructure," he said.
"We are particularly pleased to have a small cash surplus of almost $150,000, the decisions made by the council in recent years to build our financial resilience has allowed us to navigate the challenging economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic better than many other councils."
But, not everyone is convinced the council has done all it can to scrimp and save.
Tamworth Regional Ratepayers' Association president David McKinnon said he expects hundreds of people to reach out for financial hardship help.
"There's no point saying they shouldn't put rates up, they will just tell us they are behind the eight-ball and need the money," he said.
"What we don't see is any reductions or cost-cutting within the council itself, councillors just awarded themselves a pay increase and there's been no reduction in staff anywhere.
"There's no cost-cutting within the council and that's disappointing when you realise we are in tough times, we're lucky we aren't in a lockdown yet but everyone is fearful and that has reduced spending which in turn affects every business in town."
The average rate increase amounts to between $1.20 and $1.88 per week.
Council chose to apply the maximum rate hike allowable by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), at two per cent.
It will also increase water, sewerage and trade waste service by two per cent.
The average residential ratepayer in Tamworth will receive a total annual rates bill, including water, sewer and waste services, of $2,825.
Residential and business ratepayers will pay $18 more for sewer availability, $6 more for water availability for the year and up to $32 more for waste collection for the year.
All up, Tamworth locals will pay about $22 million, Barraba will cough up $377,989, Manilla $582,196, Kootingal $437,764 and about $233,000 from other villages in the region.
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Businesses will also prove a big money maker, with $6.5 million in income expected, and 3014 rural properties will return farmland rates of $6.1 million.
Pensioners will receive rebates worth a total of $1.7 million, down $22,000 from last year with 57 fewer notices. Ratepayers can pay in full or by installment, and any ratepayer who is having difficulty paying can contact the council to enter into a special arrangement to pay their rates through its confidential Ratepayers Hardship Policy.
Anyone who needs help can call TRC on 1300 733625.
The first installment is due by August 31.
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