Leeton Shire Council's proposed special rate variation knocked back in 5-4 vote by councillors at November meeting

The motion to apply to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for a special rate variation of 45.44 per cent (compounded and above the rate peg) over five years, being 8 per cent for the first three years and then 7.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent for the following two years, resulting in total rate increases of 65.63 per cent (compounded and including the rate peg) was defeated in the vote at Wednesday night's November ordinary meeting of council.

Voting against the motion was councillors Matt Holt, Sandra Nardi, Tony Ciccia, Paul Smith and Krystal Maytom.

Voting in favour was councillors Tony Reneker, George Weston, Michael Kidd and Tracey Morris.

Council had originally consulted with the community for a special rate variation proposal of 52.52 per cent over two years.

RELATED: Rate hike vote looms for council, changes in play

However, this was met with huge amounts of anger from ratepayers, who staged a protest, wrote letters and emails to both council and councillors and was a hot topic across social media.

Council went back to the drawing board after holding consultation sessions with residents, changing the proposal to be the motion that was put forward on Wednesday night.

A packed gallery turned out for the meeting, with the majority in attendance against the new motion and any increase in rates at all.

Following the meeting, mayor Reneker spoke with The Irrigator and said he was "philosophical" about the decision.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"It's a democratic process, I voted for it, but I do accept the majority vote of people being against it," he said.

"We now need to work out where to from here.

"It's important to take stock of where we are up to and work out what will happen next.

"The problem hasn't gone away.

"We need to work out a way forward."

While the motion was defeated 5-4, it is likely the concept of a special rate variation of some kind will again be raised in the near future, but council has said it will continue to investigate ways where more money can be saved to ensure its longevity.

"Hopefully some sort of compromise can be reached," Cr Reneker said.

"We certainly don't disregard any of the feedback we have had from the community throughout this process."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: