Leeton shire mayor Tony Reneker gives his thoughts after Griffith City Council's successful SRV vote

Griffith's councillors met on Tuesday, October 24 to decide whether or not they would approve a rate hike of 34.9 per cent rate over the three years.

After plenty of debate, the motion was passed and will now be sent on to IPART for final approval.

The decision has been met with plenty of anger within the Griffith community, which was mirrored in Leeton in 2022 when Leeton shire attempted to pass its own controversial special rate variation.

In November, the motion to do so failed in an extremely close vote. With the news Griffith will be proceeding with final approval for its SRV and Narrandera Shire Council soon to vote on a similar hike, Leeton mayor Tony Reneker has given his thoughts and reactions to the happenings of the neighbouring councils.

"It's indicative of the awareness that there now is across the state that local government isn't getting funded properly through the IPART increases (annual ratepegging)," councillor Reneker said.

"I think people are slowly starting to realise that.

"If there's not a rate increase, where does the money come from?

"What is the alternative?

"People say 'reduce services', but no one wants to reduce services either."

Leeton shire's financial position remains in the spotlight and it is something councillors and staff have been working on to come up with ways to improve the numbers throughout the last 12 months.

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There will be no tabling of a special rate variation for Leeton shire this year as the deadline to do so has almost arrived.

Cr Reneker said he had expected Griffith's SRV vote to be close, but wasn't surprised by the result.

"I thought it would be close, it means Griffith City Council's future is more financially secure," he said.

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