Rate revenue is set to increase by almost 6% for the Robe District Council in the upcoming financial year.

Robe Mayor Alison Nunan has defended the suggested rise which is currently in the public consultation phase.

“This is the minimum we can achieve for this year and we have deliberately not added a general increase given the rising costs of absolutely everything in our lives,” Mayor Nunan said.

“Property valuations have gone up across the board (no surprises there) and Robe District Council is proposing to increase rates by CPI.

“We are using 4.7% which is the Adelaide CPI figure, not the 5.1% national CPI figure and as usual, we have to include the increase for growth which is 1.22% this year, so a total budget increase of 5.92%.

‘We have been to Horsham and Adelaide to discuss our ideas and gather feedback and are now presenting our draft Four Year Business Plan 2022- 23 to 2025-26 (including Budget, Rating Policy and the Long-Term Financial Plan) to our local community.

“Further consultation has also occurred with the local tour to Boatswains Point, Mount Benson, Bray, Greenways and Nora Creina held on May 22.

“Our town hall meeting will again be held at the Robe Institute at 5.30pm on June 15 and the final day for feedback on the Business Plan is June 20.”

Meanwhile, the council is also currently seeking public feedback on the introduction of a separate rate to cover the costs of undergrounding powerlines on a portion of The Esplanade at Long Beach.

It has been identified the key beneficiaries of these works are the residents where the changes are made to powerlines.