RATEPAYERS can expect to pay more than 10 per cent extra on their next Cairns Regional Council rates and fees bill.
While general rates rose about 7 per cent when Mayor Val Schier handed down the city's budget for 2008/09 today, the figure does not include increases in fees for sewage, garbage, water and the Cleaner Seas levy.
Councillor Robert Pyne, who voted against the budget, said most people would be paying a double-digit increase when those service charges were taken into account.
Cr Paul Gregory said that after the general rate rise, most bills would hit about 10 per cent after charges, but some rural property owners would face a hike of 25 per cent on rates alone.
Big-ticket spending highlighted in the budget include $11.2 million for land for sporting facilities at Edmonton, almost $10 million to build a waste-water plant at Bramston Beach and about $4 million for road upgrades.
Other projects include $500,000 for cycle ways, $1 million to address coastal erosion and $810,000 toward the cost of running the Cairns Regional Gallery.
