The Douglas Shire Ratepayers Association is concerned that the Douglas Shire Council is proposing big rate and charges increases in the forthcoming Budget in what would be a big hit for local business.

A soft tourism season and farmers still in the grips of transitioning from the cane industry, with residents also struggling under the weight of cost-of-living pressures and increasing mortgage interest rates will compound the impact of any rise, the association heads say.

DSRA president John Sullivan expressed concern at the increases the council is predicting and encouraged it to act like all other businesses and families in the Shire and look at business efficiencies within the organisation and to actually reduce its operating costs rather than continuously increasing rates.

“We are in tough times, and it is time for Council to consider its operational costs and look for what appear to be many areas where Council could operate more efficiently,” Mr Sullivan said.

The concerns are heightened by the fact that on March 31 the council adopted a revised budget paper with forward estimates for the 2026/2027 year showing big increases.

The revised Budget predicts fees and charges receipts increasing from about $48m in 2025/2026 to about $52m in 2026/2027 an increase of 7.1 per cent and employee benefits rising from about $22m in 2025/2026 to about $24m in 2026/2027, an increase of 9.3 per cent.

“These are very big increases and considering the big increase in employee benefits it appears that Council is considering increasing what is already a very large workforce for a relatively small Council to a level where Council will struggle to accommodate its workforce,’’ Mr Sullivan said in a release from the DSRA.