Maitland councillor Robert Aitchison has taken aim at the way the council spends ratepayers money, saying there is "outlandish" spending at a time when "the community is hurting".
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He was referring to the council's delivery program, operational plan, long term financial plan and fees and charges for the next financial year, which all went before the councillors on Tuesday night.
He said the rising cost of living and community backlash over what he was doing to ease the burden on ratepayers had led him to take the stance.
Cr Aitchison told the chamber there was still time for council staff to make changes before June 30 - when the budget had to be set in stone - and called for it to be deferred.
Deputy Mayor Mitchell Griffin said the call was "borderline stupidity" and Cr Aitchison should have raised this issue three or four months ago.
When the deferral came to the vote Cr Aitchison only found support in councillors Ben Whiting and Stephanie Fisher.
Fellow Labor councillor Loretta Baker did not raise her hand during the vote, which Mayor Philip Penfold said meant she had effectively voted against it.
Cr Aitchison said the $100 per property rate increase would hurt, there was a 10 per cent increase in the fee to enter swimming pools whether you wanted to swim or spectate and the financial hardship program's interest rate had increased from 9 to 10.5 per cent.
"We're trying to get blood out of a stone," he said.
Cr Penfold said council's costs were rising but during this term of council rates had been stable.
"[It's] a big budget, $216 million dollars, as this city grows so to do the demands on this council," he said.
"It will result in the term of the council having had a rate increase of only 3.87 per cent per annum each year.
"I think that's a credit to all of the councillors.
"We thank the staff for their hard work and cost savings that have gotten us to this position - all this at a time where inflation was often high. In fact, in the most recent year we have seen increases on ourselves, for example, with insurance which we spent $2 million a year on."
Cr Baker said she wanted to see more money spent on the environment and sustainability.
She also said Maitland's population growth was not sustainable.
Cr Whiting was concerned about the rise in the fees and charges for the next financial year and the impact this would have on residents.
Council documents show a predicted deficit of about $6.8 million before capital, though council staff said this may change if more grant funding was allocated.
Belinda-Jane Davis
Passionate about community news
Passionate about community news
