Council in the dumps over tax
REGIONAL Queenslanders will be slugged with higher rates or suffer from service cuts as councils grapple with the carbon tax, the Local Government minister has warned.
Minister David Crisafulli expects the cost of operating landfills, in particular, to hit councils hard and there will be nothing they can do about it.
"What makes this most disappointing is it's almost impossible for local government to change their practices to get good environmental outcomes," he said. "They still need to operate their water and sewerage treatment and they still need to operate their landfills."
Twelve councils in Queensland with landfills that generate more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases will have to pay the carbon tax.
Sunshine Coast Regional Council estimates it will fork out $1.7 million for waste disposal this year because of the carbon price.
Speaking at the Local Government Association of Queensland's civic leaders' forum on the Sunshine Coast, Mr Crisafulli said the average cost of the carbon tax to Queensland councils would be between 1.5% and 3%. "My concern is that some of the third-party goods and services we need are not being factored in," he said.
