CITY of Greater Bendigo Council will consider its submission to a commission to investigate introducing a cap on council rates at Wednesday night's council meeting.
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The state government announced in January that it would introduce a cap on council rates for the 2016-17 financial year which would tie rates increases to the Consumer Price Index.
This year's Bendigo council rate rise of 5 per cent, announced in April, was the lowest in five years but still exceeded the current annual CPI rate of 1.3 per cent.
The council's proposed submission accepts the cap but says it must allow councils to "maintain long term financial sustainability".
It argues for a multi-year cap, which would allow councils to plan over a longer term and enable them to "determine whether they can commit to longer term projects, develop accurate and meaningful strategic resource plans and determine whether in future years they need to prepare to seek an exemption from the cap".
Council is also slated to consider public submissions in response to a recommendation by an independent review to carve up the City Futures Directorate.
The report recommends the city investigate making business units in its City Futures Directorate self-sufficient within five years.
Those bodies include the Bendigo Art Gallery, The Capital and Major Events, Economic Development Unit and the Bendigo Tourism Board.
The report by council officers stated that leaving the directorate in its current form would jeopardise the city's future economic development.
Of the 129 public submissions received, 121 support retaining the directorate as it is.
The majority of these submissions are from residents, with the remainder coming from businesses and community groups.
A petition of 721 signatories will be tabled, urging the council to reject the review's recommendation.