Bega Valley Shire ratepayers will help further foot the bill for the six public pools after councillors voted to apply for a special rate variation.
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At Wednesday afternoon's meeting, council resolved to notify the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) of its intention to apply for an incremental introduction - over three years - of an SRV "to secure funding for the ongoing operation, maintenance and future capital upgrades of the shire's six public swimming pools".
If approved by IPART, the SRV would see an increase in rates above the rate peg, with the introduction to occur in equal increments, starting in 2020-21, and the full variation of 11 per cent coming into effect in the third year.
The SRV would be "ringfenced" to only be directed towards expenditure on the shire's aquatic facilities.
Only councillors Mitchell Nadin and Jo Dodds voted against the motion.
Council said the SRV including rate peg amount, when fully implemented, would yield $2.028million annually to cover all pool operational, maintenance and upgrade costs. It said the average increase to the 19,731 ratepayers in the Bega Valley Shire would be $1.97 per week.
Existing funds from the general fund that are currently allocated to pool operations will be released for use across other "critical core assets such as roads, bridges and buildings" the council report read.
Full details of the rate increase will be presented to the council meeting on December 11 in the draft operational plan for the 2020/21 year. This will be placed on public exhibition for an extended period until January 24 with a community engagement plan to be developed and implemented for the period.
More to come
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