Non-profit organizations should not have to pay the $100 fee
By: Chris Richardson
Friday, 30 April 2004
At the first ordinary meeting of the newly elected council they decided to charge a $100 fee for commercial activities such as markets, carnivals and circuses held on council managed land. Non-profit organizations should not have to pay the $100 fee for the use of council managed land.
Non-profit organizations include a wide variety of activist, civic, religious, public service, and public broadcasting organizations that work in the public interest rather than the goal of making money and may operate at the local, state, national, or international level. They are not there to help make money for Council. This $100 fee is just another excuse for the Council to tax the people of Kempsey.
These organizations use the Council Managed land to hold events which attract more people and help raise funds. They can't afford to give some of the raised money back to Council.
Council Engineering director Keith Finnie said that "these events were
run on council grounds to raise funds and council was expected to pay for cleaning
and rubbish removal". Most of the people involved in the Non-profit organizations
already pay Council rates and don't these Council rates include garbage collection?.