Update 4: Council supports establishing a rating advisory committee

Good afternoon Folks.

Sorry for the delay in updates.

I attended the council meeting this morning, establishing a Rating advisory committee was an agenda item, this was supported by the councilors, expressions of interest will go out in coming weeks, with the fist meetings scheduled to start in May.

The process will not be complete before the 2023/2024 budget is finalized, there is a chance that it may have some influence the next budget, unfortunately it's more likely to impact the 2024/2025 budget.

Interestingly, I at the meeting I asked if "ability to pay" was a factor in rates distribution across the different categories, as after much reading and discussions with council, I perceived it was a factor. It was made clear that "ability to pay" was absolutely not a legitimate factor and had been specifically ruled on in a related court case.

Thanks to your support I suggest the inequity for Graziers is well known and accepted. This should stand Graziers in good stead for the rating advisory committee process. Facts, fairness and precedence are certainly on our side.

I need to close off this petition and formally submit it to council. It is planned to start a Facebook page as a means to keep interest parties in the loop. I will provide details next update.

kind Regards,

Jason Burzacott.