Queanbeyan councillor's legal advice casts cloud on rates hike

A Queanbeyan City councillor tabled independent legal evidence at Wednesday night's council that casts doubt over the validity of $3.7 million in issued supplementary rates notices.

Councillor Jamie Cregan tabled a letter of advice from Boettcher Law for consideration.

Cr Cregan said the letter showed there had been a "lapse of process" and a failure to offer elected councillors the chance to investigate the matter and consider options prior to the retrospective rates notices being issued.

Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall disallowed the motion.

"I am not going to accept it," Cr Overall said.

As the information was received during the meeting, councillors were unable to make an informed decision.

Cr Overall also ruled out a motion put forward by Cr Kenrick Winchester, which included a call for the newly created rates and charges advisory committee chaired by Cr  Sue Whelan to conduct a review of the actions of council staff senior management and councillors.  

An urgent extraordinary meeting of council has been called for September 3 to deal with both matters before next Friday's meeting with NSW Minister for Local Government Paul Toole, where legislative solutions to the backdated rates problem will be discussed.

Councillor Brian Brown, one of the three signatories to the request for the urgent meeting, said it was crucial to make every effort to progress toward a solution to the rates crisis.

"We believe we have advice contrary to council legal advice that these rates are actually invalid," he said. "We can't just wait for September 5th and hope everything will turn out."

The council agreed to amend the Rates and Charges Relief Policy and adopted a 100 per cent rebate for rates and charges offered to approved sports and community organisations, and ensure this was publicised to eligible groups.

Those relevant organisations could apply to have rates charges from the 2011-12 financial year forward rebated in full.

Cr Cregan said the organisations first had to pay the rates and then seek for them to be rebated, so the changes to this policy wouldn't complicate matters of ratepayers affected by retrospective rates charges while the payment pause was in place.

Fourteen public presentations were made at the council's August meeting, nine of which spoke in support of a rescission motion before the council which in the end did not pass.  

Councillor Judith Burfoot said "it must have been election season" and she was behind ending the political stand-off and getting on with realising a cinema in the city.

Cr Brown said a confidential discussion held in closed session vindicated councillors concerned for the level of risk the council was exposed to in the initial proposal. 

He said new models that involved more private capital for the creation of a cinema complex had been put forward. 

"One thing we have always said is that if private enterprise or a syndicate can get together and do this, that is preferable," he said.

"There certainly looks like there is an opportunity now for a syndicate to be put together, and with this new committee we will be pushing forward so that is followed through and investigated."