IF Sunshine Coast Council is looking for any tips on how to keep rates from the hefty 10 per cent jolt it recently delivered, it could do worse than look south to its Moreton neighbours.
Moreton Bay City Council delivered a 4.5 per cent rate rise in its 2026/27 Budget last week, despite facing many of the same growth pressures.
When Moreton Mayor, Peter Flannery, was asked about this comparison, he got straight to the point.
“We don’t go out and make promises on bright shiny new toys just to get a headline,” he said.
“We’re very strategic on what we deliver, how we deliver it. And we’ve got a fantastic team here in Council now who put in projects together (and) get the best bang for their buck.”
That seems how you’d like to see your council budget work.
Which brings me to a line item in the Sunshine Coast Council Budget that made headlines of its own last week: a $10,000 dog bowl.
It’s actually a “dog drinking facility”, but either way, residents were less than impressed when it was brought to their attention.
And the justification didn’t help either.
There are undoubtedly costs that go into a dog drinking facility including planning, installation, plumbing connections and associated works.
Everyone gets that.
But when ratepayers have just been hit with a 10 per cent rate rise at the same time council has run up two years of significant deficits, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain why seemingly basic projects carry extraordinary price tags.
The issue isn’t the dog bowl itself.
It’s whether council has become too comfortable with spending levels that would raise eyebrows in almost any household or business.
Every organisation, public or private, needs regular pressure to find efficiencies.
Without it, spending has a habit of creeping upwards to what we see today.
On the bright side, at least our pets won’t be going thirsty.
Brighter news
To be fair, not everything coming out of council deserves criticism.
The announcement that the Sunshine Coast Hinterland has officially become Queensland’s first International Dark Sky Reserve is a genuine achievement and one that will pay dividends long into the future.
Covering nearly 900 square kilometres, including Maleny, the designation places the region alongside some of the world’s most celebrated stargazing destinations.
Maleny astronomer Dr Ken Wishaw has spent years championing the project and advocating for measures to reduce light pollution across the hinterland.
Dark sky destinations are increasingly attracting visitors seeking experiences that simply cannot be found in major cities.
While the budget has left a lot of people seeing red, the preservation of our night skies is one area where the future looks far brighter.