RATEPAYERS in Winda Woppa have been hit with an 8.4 per cent rate increase this new financial year.
This comes after Great Lakes Council sent residents a letter informing them it needed more money from them to support the ongoing emergency works on Jimmys Beach.
"As you would be aware council invests considerable funds in the sand renourishment program for Jimmy's beach, which essentially protects The Boulevarde and all properties on the Winda Woppa Peninsula," the council's revenue co-ordinator Lee Howard stated in the letter.
Residents living along The Boulevarde that the NOTA have spoken to believed it was unfair that their rates would increase up to $700 per annum.
"The beach is for public use not just for residents of Winda Woppa," said one resident who did not want to be named.
"Between the schools that use the beach and the windsurfing competitions that are held there I find it hard to comprehend what council is trying to do, which is to penalise us," said another resident from the same street.
They also noted that the council was protecting its own assets during the renourishment work such as the road and the electricity along The Boulevarde.
Twenty seven letters of complaint have been written to the council in protest of the rate increase.
In 2011 - 2012 the budget the expenditure from rates for sand renourishment was $342,000 and the total rates collected from Winda Woppa properties was $361,000.
"Given this level of expenditure council will continue to seek a reasonable level of rates from properties in Winda Woppa," Ms Howard stated.