While there has been controversy over Councils attempting to profit by the Carbon Tax which has hopefully been put to bed, we still await confirmation of the NRM levy.

As I write this post to my blog site I ponder whether we on Council will know what the levy will be that we are forced to collect on behalf of the State Government.

It appears we will have to guess on this one too, just like the Carbon Tax.

I am finding it incredible that both the Federal and the State Government should leave us in the lurch over these issues. Once we have set our rates for a year there is no turning back. There is no rise and fall clause like businesses can utilise when signing a contract. There is no way of recovering these costs if we under value them.

This budget therefore is looming as one with big question marks over it that we cannot control. Our final council meeting for the financial year is this coming Monday. That is only a week before the next financial year kicks off.

Monday night is shaping up as a difficult night because it is our responsibility to get it right, even though we have had not one but both hands tied behind our backs.