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Council rates jump over 100% without a fuss

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tech/a said:
Balance you need to be able to leverage---Super on its own wont do it
as there WILL be long periods when it underperforms and you cant do a thing about it.
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...and tempting for gOvernments to stick their stick fingers in there, if they're short of cash.
 

I too have seen first hand the bungling efforts (that is SOOOO the wrong word) of local council. Try paying an architecture firm some tens of thousands of dollars in professional services to redesign a space, then announce it to the public, only to reveal at the end of the design phase that the approvals (which require an estimated 1-2 years to get through) were never put through. And the lady who does that job (cos there can be no other in the world!) is on 6 months maternity leave.

Sheeeesh.

I'm with you tech/a...build it anyway. There is a reason that things degrade or don't improve and it has less to do with the amount of money available and everything to do with how it's used.

ASX.G
 
wayneL said:
...and tempting for gOvernments to stick their stick fingers in there, if they're short of cash.
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This is why I find it awfully difficult to trust that the perks currently afforded to superannuation can avoid being tampered with before I reach preservation age. And I'm not even halfway there. Thats an awfully long period of risk exposure.
 

Thanks for the suggestion.
However, the thread wasn't so much about my personal branch problem (and most of them are very much bigger than a broomstick) but rather about the various ways our councils are ripping us off.

It's not just councils. SE Qld water prices are about to rise to be amongst the highest six in the world. Just because successive governments have milked returns from infrastructure and put it into consolidated revenue rather than progressively improve the infrastructure. Now they are playing catchup (and will probably fail before Brisbane runs out of water) and the ever vulnerable public is being made to foot the bill for work that should have been well in place by now.

There is even a suggestion that water will have to be brought to Brisbane by tankers from New Zealand before the new infrastructure is completed, fergawdsake!!
 

lol, you should try building up here with the cyclone code & the approval needed for that with council and engineers.
 
I'm mostly with tech on this one except for one point.

Housing and valuations have more than doubled in recient years.
Councils have had a windfall of over 100%.
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Yep, house prices have more than doubled. So surely we ought to be questioning that in itself rather than worrying only that councils have joined in. Someone's massively increased their charges in recent years by an amount that workers in practically all industries can only dream of. Indeed that imbalance is the heart of the problem.

Other than that, basically agreed. Councils do all sorts of strange things which basically involve (1) excessive control and regulation and (2) doing things in an inefficient and wasteful manner.

I've never accepted the argument for getting rid of the states and having just Federal and local government. If we're going to get rid of any level of government then local's the one to go IMO.

I've known plenty of people employed in both state and local government. With very few exceptions those in state government, at least the non-administrative staff, seem to be trying to get things done but have to compromise due to lack of resources. Most of them seem reasonably efficient (though there are exceptions as there are in any large organisation).

Local government seems to have people all over the place in comparisson. That and I've lost count of the number of instances I've seen where cents are saved now at the cost of spending dollars tomorrow.

And don't get me started on all the silly regulations that lack any sound technical basis...
 
Taking this to the next level...house prices have jumped over 100% without a fuss...then what do recent home buyers get in return...nothing extra either...so this argument is floored.

The home seller is just like the council...raking in profits and giving nothing more in return.

Do the recent home buyers get a better roof, carpeting, walls, extra space, more features...asbolutley not!

I say good on the councils, it appears everyone else can quite happily double thier fees and charges over the last 5 years, so why should they be any different.
 
Does the person buying 1000 BHP shares today squeal when the person who sold them to you just doubled their money, no...they just have to pay up and shut up. Just like the buyers of homes have to shut their mouths and accept the 100% price rises so should the home owners accept the doubling of fees and charges. Fairs Fair!

Everything around us has doubled in the last 5 years, we are all getting no better value or features or services...Thats life...!

...Tough Titties! Source (Fast Forward or Full Frontal - mid 90's comedy sketch)
 
Taking this to the next level...house prices have jumped over 100% without a fuss...then what do recent home buyers get in return...nothing extra either...so this argument is floored.
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No Kris Both the Housing and the BHP example are supply and demand.
Not even remotely related to the windfall council has recieved.
 
tech/a said:
No Kris Both the Housing and the BHP example are supply and demand.
Not even remotely related to the windfall council has recieved.
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Yes it is related: The fees collected are in direct relationship to the cost of a house...so as house prices go up...(supply and demand), then the knock on affects are endless...

Councils are just doing what everyone else is doing and that is riding this glorious housing boom...good on them I say!

Just like the mining boom...every other sector is cashing in too...!
 
tech/a said:
julia
Im sympathising.
A trailer load here is $60.
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Do you mean it costs $60 to leave a trailer load of green waste or that it costs $60 to buy a trailer load of council mulch?

If the former, then it sounds quite incredible and totally unrealistic.
 
Stop_the_clock said:
Here is a tip...sell all your properties and go live in a tent then...there easy fixed...that solves the problem

Look outside the square...find another way...be smarter than the rest:
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Even a caravan park has to pay COuncil rates and you cant just pitch up tent anywhere because the COUNCIL will move you on! Get real, you are stuck with Council activities whether you like them or not!
 
Julia

Thats the council dump fee (actually its private enterprise which runs the dump on behalf of the council ) at least that way its profitable and efficient.

If they ran it there would be 120 employees and a line of cars and trailers stretching back 5 kms and 5 reams of paper work to enter the dump and another 5 reams plus a security search to leave it!
 

Surely that would be for non-recyclable rubbish?
I was talking about green waste which they make into saleable mulch.
 


LOL, sounds like you might have a case of "Exaggeration disorder"
 
Stop_the_clock said:
LOL, sounds like you might have a case of "Exaggeration disorder"
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Possibly. However, Tech's point is entirely valid. It's the same syndrome where if a road job needs to be done, private enterprise will get on with it because time is money, but your average council crew will do what we've all seen where six of them stand around watching one bloke make tentative gestures with a shovel.
 
 
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