Maitland City Council has given ratepayers struggling to pay their quarterly installments a reprieve.
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Council has included a hardship clause in its operational plan, a move applauded by Labor mayoral candidate Cr Loretta Baker.
Earlier this month Maitland councillors adopted the city’s operational plan, which included council’s annual budget, fees and charges (including rates) and capital works program.
In June 2014, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal approved council’s application for a seven-year annual rate rise at an average of 7.25 per cent.
At that time Mayor Peter Blackmore reminded residents that council’s new Hardship and Debt Recovery Policy was available for people who were unable to met payment deadlines for council fees.
Cr Baker said she was pleased to see the hardship clause revisited in the new budget.
“Different people struggle at different times and what used to happen was a debt collector would be on their doorstep if they missed a payment,” she said.
“People are reluctant to go in and talk to council officers about their situations. It can be embarrassing.”
Cr Baker explained that people can ring the council and make an appointment to either go in personally or discuss their situation with an officer over the phone.
“Payment arrangements can be made,” she said.
“The same situation applies to user groups on fees and charges if they are having trouble meeting the recent increases.
“Just one user group applied for a staged increase in fees and charges on hardship grounds in the current operational plan and it was granted a three year period to phase in the increase.”
User groups had to put their submissions in during the public exhibition period if they were not happy with the changes.
Cr Baker said increasing energy charges, rents and the high cost of living in general had many families struggling to make ends meet.
“The other thing too is that there is no wage growth. People are struggling. Some won’t even turn their heaters on because they can’t afford the energy bills,” she said.
“The other sad thing is that a lot of services that support the most disadvantaged people to help them get through this maze, have had funds cut by the government. It’s impossible to understand.
“The services that would normally be in a position to help people negotiate a debt are not funded.
“Charities are not getting the same amount of funding being distributed by the government.
“It’s getting more and more difficult for people just to get a hold of the basics.”
