Armidale Regional Council propose land rate increase of 50 per cent over three years

"I'm standing in the main street of Guyra at the moment," Mr Lenehan said while speaking to The Armidale Express over the phone.

"And I can probably look at three people already that I know will struggle."

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The council has scheduled meetings in Armidale, Guyra and Wollomombi next month for locals concerned about the hike.

The Special Rate Variation (SRV) rise, if approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) following community consultation over the next six weeks, would likely come into effect from 2023-24.

The increase would put landholders across the shire an extra $10.1m per year out of pocket without taking into account the currently allowable $1.5m annual rise.

By the year 2026, that would give the council an additional $30.3m to spend on bridging the current "infrastructure renewal funding gaps of $6.9m per year".

An additional $3.2m per year would go towards "operational service delivery".

Mayor Sam Coupland said the two options were clear; an SRV as part of the solution to restore the real cost of maintaining assets, and providing services to grow and be sustainable, or a managed decline where the state of our assets and infrastructure continue to worsen due to an inability to be able to afford to maintain them.

"Obviously, service cuts will have significant impacts on the community, and this is not council's preferred option," Cr Coupland said.

"We want people to understand the issues and to participate in these forums to express their views knowing the full picture.

"The community engagement process will inform council in considering whether to proceed with an application for a Special Rate Variation," he said.

Each year IPART calculate a rate peg which sets how much councils can increase the revenue they collect from rates. Councils can apply to raise rates by a higher amount if needed.

For this financial year the rate peg was set at a minimum of 0.7 per cent, lower than many councils expected.

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall took to the floor of State Parliament in February, condemning the IPART determination and urging the body urgently review its "paltry" increase figure.

And backing Mr Marshall's outrage, Armidale Regional Council general manager James Roncon told the Express the time the cap would mean an immediate $350,000 deficit for his council's budget.

Armidale was able to increase rates by 2.5 per cent this year following an SRV application.

Meetings scheduled for the public:

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