In May this year, Yass Valley Council approved a Special Rate Variation that would see the rate revenue increase to generate an additional $5.3 million over the next four years, according to the council. 

For local resident Nick Tyrrell, the revenue, if placed in the wrong hands, could have dire consequences for residents. 

"Rates are going up in the Yass Valley big-time. I understand the reasons behind it, but I’ve seen first-hand what happens when councillors have more money coming in: it becomes the new normal, and nobody thinks about how to keep rates low," he said.

The 35-year-old Yass ratepayer has previously served as a councillor in Blacktown on the third largest council in Australia, but says he’s not planning on running for Yass Valley Council at the September elections.

Spurred by his experience in other local councils, Mr Tyrrell became the architect behind a Ratepayers Group, founded with the intention of keeping council and councillors accountable for the election campaign and beyond. 

“A lot can happen in the four years between elections,” Mr Tyrrell explained. “Most people don't have time to attend council meetings or keep a close eye on what's happening - so that's what a ratepayers' group is about." 

“My experience as a councillor, where we had a much bigger budget, and 350,000 residents, showed me how important it is to have a strong ratepayers' advocate or group to keep an eye on how council is spending money,” he said. 

The approval for Yass Valley Council to increase rates of 8.5 per cent over four consecutive rate increases, including the rate peg, began this July. This figure equates to a cumulative 38.6 per cent over four years and an increase that will be retained permanently in the rate base.

Mr Tyrrell said a combination of his elected experience, and having owned his own business, gives him a good perspective on value for money for ratepayers.

While Mr Tyrrell says he can accept the reasons for the rate rise, he can’t accept wasteful spending. 

"Those waste vouchers are a great example of an idea that might have been well-intentioned, but has just wasted money,” Mr Tyrrell said about councillor Jasmin Jones’s domestic waste vouchers initiative, valid for 12 months with residents’ 2015 rates notice. 

“That $50,000 could have paid for more than 6,000 Yass Valley households - including renters - to take a car boot load of rubbish to the tip for free. Instead, we wasted all that money on printing, graphic design, time and energy, for only 14 per cent of people to use them.  Now there's no money left in council's waste budget. 

“In my small business, if I had an idea, I had to spend my own money so I had to think long and hard about whether I could afford it. I wish councillors would think of ratepayers' money a bit more like that."

Cr Jones however stands by her waste vouchers with the slogan ‘rate hike hits but grab your free vouchers before you hit the roof!’.

“I’ve been one of the few councillors to hold the line against rate hikes before taking solid efficiencies and savings to the public first,” she said. “With general rates going up by nearly 40 per cent over the next four years, the two complementary waste vouchers for rural, town and village ratepayers alike might be the only welcome piece of paper arriving in mailboxes currently.

“I make no excuses for bringing new initiatives to Yass Valley Council. This is a much loved service many NSW councils provide to their residents. It’s no wonder it has the support of the majority of my fellow councillors.”

Mr Tyrrell is encouraging other locals from the villages and Yass town to think about joining the group.

"Myself and other like-minded people can really play a part in making sure we have a functional, efficient council on behalf of other ratepayers."