AFTER months of hard work, the first Cairns Regional Council Budget was handed down by Mayor Val Schier yesterday.

But it was not all smooth sailing with the lone voice of Cr Robert Pyne objecting to some of its content and voting against it.

Before the Budget being approved by the rest of the council, Cr Schier announced that general rates would rise by 7.1 per cent and commercial rates by 8.4 per cent.

"This increase is less than the cost of a loaf of bread a week and I know that many pensioners and low income earners will be relieved to hear the media's double digit predictions were not accurate," she said.

"About half of our ratepayers will pay no more than $650 in general rates this financial year."

However, increases in additional council fees and water charges will hike the typical homeowner's annual council bills by a total of 15 per cent.

Cr Schier's comparison of the rates rise to the cost of bread drew criticism from a community action group.

"There are people in this community to whom a loaf of bread makes a difference," said Community Reformation Action Group spokesman John Babet, who took the former Cairns Regional Council to task over rates.

"People are suffering, people are living desperate lives.

"If somebody is living on a pension or fixed income every dollar counts."

In her speech, Cr Schier said in developing the Budget the council was charged with dissolving Budget operating deficits inherited from both former councils.

"In the case of Cairns, it was $8 million and for Douglas Shire, it was $1.7 million," she said.

"This financial position is not a sustainable one for any local authority and independent Queensland Treasury advice supports this assessment.

"This means there has been considerable challenge in consolidating two sets of books and producing a balanced budget which will ensure we will move forward with confidence."

Cr Schier said financial sustainability of the council was now the primary focus.

"It has been a challenging Budget and one we have deliberated over long and hard and certainly the majority of councillors were really pleased we had been financially and environmentally responsible," she said.

She said the Budget contained major investments including land for sporting facilities and money to flood proof Yorkeys Knob road.

Cr Schier thanked long-term councillors Alan Blake, Sno Bonneau, Paul Gregory and Deputy Mayor Margaret Cochrane as well as council staff for their hard work and assistance in developing the Budget.

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