A PLAN to offer rate relief to Frankston residents was shut down without debate at Frankston Council’s most recent meeting.
Frankston Council considered its annual budget at its 11 May public meeting, with the budget drafted by council officers containing a 2.75 percent rate rise. Cr Nathan Butler attempted to raise a proposal investigating a rate reduction, but his plan was not accepted for debate by the mayor.
Cr Butler can be clearly heard on the council meeting recording asking for his alternate motion to be considered, but the mayor Sue Baker proceeded with the original recommendation without acknowledging Cr Butler. She told council “I have discretion as the chair to ask for the officer’s recommendation to be moved first, and I’ve had a mover and a seconder.”
Cr Kris Bolam subsequently raised a dissent motion against the mayor, which failed. Defending herself against the dissent motion, Cr Baker said “I was reading out a statement to all councillors about the importance of the budget and all the work that’s been done over the last six or seven months. So it’s my prerogative to be able to speak and for no one to speak over me or to stop me.”
“When I called “Do I have a mover for the officer’s recommendation?”, I saw hands go up on this side of the room,” the mayor said.
Cr Butler later released his proposed alternate motion on social media. It requested that before final adoption of the 2026/2027 budget, the Chief Executive Officer should prepare a new budget option including “an immediate discount for all eligible principal place of residence properties in Frankston City, designed to offset the 2026/2027 general rate increase for those properties, with the Chief Executive Officer to determine the most appropriate mechanism for delivery, including a rebate, discount, offset or equivalent mechanism”, and “a twelve month 30 percent discount on Meals on Wheels charges for eligible Frankston residents receiving the service in the 2026/2027 financial year.”
“Since community engagement closed on 14 December 2025, there have been significant changes in the financial conditions facing many Frankston residents, including renewed interest rate increases, ongoing cost of living pressure, and increased global fuel and energy uncertainty”, Cr Butler’s motion read. “In 2025, the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the cash rate three times, and that in 2026 the Reserve Bank has now increased the cash rate to 4.35 percent, effectively reversing the 2025 reductions.”
Cr Butler told the meeting that “I had the intention to move an alternate that sought a report and some community consultation on the potential to freeze the rates for primary place of residence owners, the people that pay for everything that runs in this city. I believe they need some support in these moments. I’m disappointed that that was not able to be tabled and debated, so I will be not voting to support this budget.
“I think we have a capable CEO that could’ve led the work and provided us with some options, and if those options didn’t end up being legal, practicable, or workable, we could’ve reassessed. We still have seven weeks left before we need to pass this budget, and I think it’s premature to do so now.”
Cr Bolam said it was the first time he had opposed a budget during more than a decade sitting on council. “This budget takes the easy path, asking residents for a 4 percent rate increase, nearly double last year’s hike. In an environment where people are barely keeping their heads above water, doubling that increase is not just poor policy, it’s a slap in the face,” he said.
“The alternative would have delivered a 12-month 50 percent Meals on Wheels discount for all users, and a one-off principal place of residence rebate for ratepayers. And this credit would effectively deliver a 12-month rate freeze for 73 percent of our ratepayers, the first of its kind since amalgamation. I note that there are councillors in that chamber who promised rate freezes or to ease the cost of living. Tonight was your opportunity to fulfill that commitment.”
Cr Bolam said the process of drafting this year’s budget was flawed, and that he had not been allowed access to specific line items within the budget despite requesting more information from the council officers. He said “councillors, beyond the budget submissions meeting that is mandated, have spent roughly five hours deliberating on a $304 million budget.”
Council CEO Tennille Bradley, overseeing her first budget at Frankston Council, took aim at Cr Bolam for missing briefing sessions when the budget was being drafted and defended her decision to not release specific budget information to councillors. She said “I believe that requests for highly detailed line-by-line operational budget information can extend beyond the level of detail ordinarily required for council’s strategic governance role and risks blurring the distinction between governance oversight and operational management.”
First published in the Frankston Times – 19 May 2026