Queanbeyan City Council has settled on a plan to put retrospective rates bills on hold while it seeks advice from the NSW Minister for Local Government.
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Councillors agreed to the action at an informal meeting this week and will ratify a motion at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to hold the payment date on backdated bills until they have received advice from the minister.
But Monaro MP John Barilaro warned that picking apart the council’s mistakes could be a drawn-out process with no guarantees.
"Queanbeyan City Council has rowed up the creek and now it’s my job to find them a paddle," he said.
Mr Barilaro has been a vocal critic of Queanbeyan council’s decision to recoup a shortfall of $3.7 million in outstanding rates charges found through an audit of the council’s property database going back to the 2009-10 financial year.
Residents have been issued with retrospective rates bills for up to $94,000 to recover the shortfall with others receiving refunds.
"It is worth remembering that this unsatisfactory situation could have been averted had council elected to wear the cost of its mistake in the first place," he said.
The advice Mr Barilaro has received pointed to a procedure for writing off rates and charges under Local Government Regulation if the council believed efforts to recover the amount would not be cost effective.
"I believe that the cost of [defending] a class action could satisfy this clause," Mr Barilaro said.
Shouldering a $10,000 blow in backdated rates, small business owner Kim Morris said the temporary hold on the backdated notices provided little comfort.
"Sure it’s a reprieve," he said. "But it doesn’t mean the charges will go away. We need to stick together as a group and keep the pressure on."
Many in the 100-strong crowd were outraged mayor Tim Overall did not attend the meeting. "It's political suicide not to be here," one furious ratepayer shouted as others called for the sacking of council’s senior management.
Boettcher Law solicitor Rory Markham offered to provide any affected ratepayers with a clear sense of their legal options.
"We are one of the only law firms in town that’s not part of the Queanbeyan Council’s panel," he said.
Ratepayers voted in support of establishing a Queanbeyan Ratepayers Association at the meeting and are still considering the option of a legal challenge against the backdated rates.
