ROADS, rates and rubbish could be the focus of the upcoming Southern Downs Regional Council budget, as questions are raised about what the core business of council actually is.

As the council looks at works to work itself out of financial strain - with the cost to ratepayers' hip pockets with a likely rate hike - the discussion for this year's budget looks set to be a case of getting back to basics.

Deputy Mayor Ross Bartley told the Daily News he believed roads, rates and rubbish needed to be at the heart of the council's services.

"Certainly water, sewerage and rubbish are the basic services," he said.

"Roads are our biggest budget item and landfill and rubbish services come at a cost to council.

"We need to have core business discussions."

As the council looks at what services it can reduce or cut in a bid to save money, Cr Bartley pointed to a fairly length and carefully measured decision-making ahead.

"We're looking at a heap of things and what we finally decide on will be interesting - park rationalisation is one," he said.

"We've got to have consultation before we do anything drastic - it'd like to see us get it right.

"We will do the best we can - that's our job."

But not everyone is convinced that is the best approach.

Mayor Peter Blundell said he believed the notion of 'roads, rates and rubbish' was dated.

"We've had these core services discussions time and time again and we never agree on taking services out of the picture," he said.

"The fact is as a council we offer greater services than before and we need to look at how we deliver these services."

RATE RISE COMING IN COUNCIL'S BUDGET

Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor agreed on one thing - rates generally always rise each year.

"In my 15 years in local government I haven't seen rates go down," Cr Bartley said.

"For someone to say rates won't be going up, well CPI goes up and wages go up with that.

"Where is that money going to come from?"

Mayor Blundell said he had never known rates to fall.

"I have never known rates to do anything but rise," he said.

"Our challenge is to try and keep rises reasonable."

One of the biggest things expected in the upcoming budget was spending on those basic services such as roads and other infrastructure.

"The main thing out of this budget will be delivering a big capital works budget," Cr Blundell said.

This year's budget is also expected to be clearer in exactly what services are costing and where savings can be taken from.

"I think you need to look at the spread of services council delivers and the costs of those services delivered," Cr Blundell said.

"Everyone has to be very aware of where money is coming from and going to - people need to be aware of what the cost is."

Both the mayor and deputy mayor agreed one of the biggest challenges would be balancing the off-set of costs with what people could afford to pay.

Cr Bartley accepted it was 'tough going' for everyone at the moment.

"You have to be mindful of what communities can afford to pay - their ability to pay," he said.

"I look around and you dont see too much lavish expenditure - times are tough.

"I'm a ratepayer and I think about how many more cattle i can fit in the paddock or how much more cropping I can do to cover the extra rates."

In response to claims that Southern Downs residents were paying more in rates than other parts of the state, Cr Bartley said people needed to understand the council area was much larger than others.

"We have a large area to cover and we only collect rates from 18,000 ratepayers," he said.

"All councils will struggle with their budgets this year - if you haven't got the money, you can't deliver the services.

"You've got to understand we need to operate as a council and those services cost money."

Election budget ahead

With the approaching budget set to be the last before next year's council elections, Cr Bartley said he wouldn't be making decisions based on popularity.

"If you make all your decisions based on that then you're not doing your duty as a councillor," he said.

"During the election year for the last term (2011) there was a 10% rate hike - unaninmously supported.

"It's not just about making decisions for this year - it's what flows on for the next year."

Floods still taking their toll

Cr Bartley said the floods in 2010, 2011 and 2013 came at a great cost to the council and continued to have an impact on the council's finances.

"It costs us dearly," he said.

"There will be flow on effect for a while - it could take five years for us to bounce back to where we before the floods."