A Tasmanian town ratepayers will be hit with a more than 10 per cent rise after a fiery late-night council meeting.
The council voted six to two to support the move, which will increase the rates for residential properties in Burnie by an average of 10.2 per cent.
Simon Overland, the council's general manager, said rates needed to be raised to ensure the council's long-term financial sustainability.
He said that a number of factors contributed to the higher than average increase this year, including concerns around inflation and the enduring financial impacts of COVID-19.
He said the council consulted with the Burnie community.
Steve Kons said there was no issue with the sustainability of the council's budget, as he and deputy mayor Giovanna Simpson voted against the rate rise.
He said cost cutting had improved the budget and that recent deficits were due to one-off expenses.
Everyone just accepted what the staff said. I did a lot of research. It is unfortunate that councillors' views are not considered worthy compared to the staff's. He described the atmosphere at the meeting as very tense and said it was one of the longest meetings he had attended.
It's certainly not the right approach to panic and throw the bath water out with a baby. Some community members may find the rate increase challenging, but he said residents facing real financial hardship would be supported.