Council has now back-tracked for this year only as it moves towards “an instalment only option for payment of rates.”
Option means a choice, and there will be no choice.
The reasons given are so people can “better manage their payments”.
The half of us who pay rates in one payment really do not need ‘Big Brother Council’ to tell us how to manage our budgets.
Council will charge interest on overdue payments from next year with the possibility of four dates to miss instead of one.
The third reason is that council wants to have a “more even cash flow”.
It seems that council has trouble managing its own budget.
After all, the amount received will be the same and if one does the sums there is not a lot of difference in cash flow.
But council will now have the added cost of sending three extra notices to about half the ratepayers.
Whoever wrote the spin over the name of Cr Wilmott and Mr Hodges should really learn the trade.
If we are to lose the benefit of annual payment council should have been honest and said so.
Don McLean,
Bunyip.
