Council will apply to the Essential Services Commission to increase rates by four per cent in the 2017-18 budget – higher than the state government’s two per cent cap. 

Mayor Debra Nelson said while it was something council didn’t necessarily want to do, they felt they had no option. 

“Our financial situation is quite challenged and rates is one avenue that raises more money,” she said.

“If we don’t get some money from somewhere, our infrastructure gap will grow and we won’t be able to do maintenance on our roads – the list just keeps getting longer.”

Cr Nelson said council would put in a submission and if successful, councillors would then decide whether they would continue with the four per cent increase.

“We had community consultations before making the submission,” she said.

“While no one likes paying rates, people realise that the conditions of the roads are really important, especially for our farmers who are using them the most.

“The community was understanding of our dilemma.

“It was based on that feedback that we decided to pursue the rate increase.”

The state government introduced rate capping last year.

Ten councils applied to increase rates above the cap in 2016-17 and six were successful, including Horsham Rural City with a rate increase of 3.5 per cent. 

Cr Nelson said rural councils were doing it a lot tougher than their city counterparts. “There is no ‘one size fits all’,” she said.

“A Victorian Auditor-General's Office report showed there were 19 rural councils that just weren’t sustainable with the current funding model,” she said.

“All Wimmera councils have had to look internally at their operations to try to work out the best way to save money and cut costs.

“There is only so much you can do though – rural councils are doing it tough.

“We don’t have the ability to raise money in other ways, such as parking metres.

“Port Phillip Council raises about $30 million from parking metres alone.

“Our whole budget is $18 million for the year.”

Cr Nelson said she wouldn’t be surprised if more rural councils applied for a rate cap variation for the next financial year. 

Council will hear if its application was successful within two months.