A delegation from Queanbeyan Council will meet the NSW Minister for Local Government Paul Toole next Friday, September 5 to discuss a legislative solution to its backdated rates problem.
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Council voted on August 13 to freeze outstanding rates notices worth $3.7 million and seek the help of the minister.
Monaro MP John Barilaro set up the meeting but has warned ratepayers that a quick fix was unlikely.
“Already the department [of Local Government] is concerned about implications and how possible changes to regulation or legislation could set a far-reaching precedent,” Mr Barilaro said.
He said expediency and giving affected Queanbeyan ratepayers certainty were priorities, but it was crucial to consider how possible measures to assist the Queanbeyan City Council could affect all local governments across NSW.
Mr Barilaro said a number of interpretations of the Local Government Act, or the redemptive clauses in Regulation 131, had already been suggested, but so far none had been accepted as sufficient legal grounds to waive the rates by the department.
Adding to the complication, several government-owned properties had been issued with backdated rates notices.
This raises the issue of a potential conflict of interest if the Government negotiates a waiver and applies it to its own properties.
“If it is considered a conflict of interest it’s possible the government would have to wear the cost of backdated charges on any government properties,” Mr Barilaro said.
NSW Labor MLC Steve Whan, who will contest next year’s state election as the Country Labor Candidate for Monaro, sees it differently.
He has called on the NSW government to act quickly and use “fairly simple” means to resolve the rates crisis in weeks rather than months.
“The amendment [to Regulation 131] would be simple to draft, and could go to cabinet and then executive council within the space of a fortnight,” Mr Whan said.
“A regulation is a disallowable instrument but if the Minister consults the Opposition on the wording Labor would commit not to move disallowance in the Legislative Council – that ensures that the amendment could not be struck down by Parliament.”
Mr Barilaro said intimating there was an available quick fix was nothing short of playing politics, but nonetheless he welcomed Mr Whan’s bipartisan commitment that Labor would not obstruct a possible solution.
“If there was something within the current act we could pull [on] straight away we would have,” Mr Barilaro said.
“The reality is Mr Whan knows it's complex, he knows this will take time and the implications are far and wide when you start changing regulations and acts.”
Details of which Queanbeyan City Councillor will join the delegation with Mayor Tim Overall will be fleshed out at the council’s ordinary meeting on Wednesday August 27.
