Rate rise proposal abandoned

Gosford Council’s proposal for a 7.2 per cent rate increase has been rejected by the community and as a result will not go ahead.

"The people have spoken and council has listened," said Gosford mayor Cr Chris Holstein.

"Gosford Council was happy to talk to the community and hear what they had to say," he said.

Cr Holstein said there was still a backlog of work, which needed to take place.

"We’ll look at other sources of funding as rates account for just 28 per cent of council’s income.

"Our rates need to cover the costs incurred with the basic running our organisation and the operations maintenance of all our services and facilities.

"This includes our libraries, child care services, senior citizens centres, youth centres and even our annual street lighting bill, which costs more than $1.2 million each year," said Cr Holstein.

He said these ongoing costs left little for the backlog of works aimed at improving basic infrastructure and urban centres.

"We’ll continue to seek funding from State and Federal Government, which is often linked to specific projects, but we will pursue these government grants," said Cr Holstein.

"Extra funds are required to ensure we further improve the roads, kerb and guttering, footpaths, water safety and life saving facilities.

"I now seek community support in council’s endeavours to maximise funding from other levels of government," Cr Holstein said.

Media release, May 24