A GROUP of Southern Downs residents has slammed the council's budget consultation call-out, saying it will boycott the "pointless" process.

The Southern Downs Residents Action Group has decided not to participate in consultation on the 2018-19 draft budget, which began on Tuesday.

Secretary Andrew Gale said the process was pointless because councillors rarely acted on past submissions.

He also said he had it on good authority the budget was finalised at the end of last year.

Mr Gale called on the council to be more open and transparent and conduct public consultation at the time the budget was being put together, rather than providing "lip service" and no action.

Expenditure on plant and equipment was also concerning, Mr Gale said, as it had consistently increased.

As the proposed spending on plant and equipment in the 2018/19 budget was $5.61million to be spent on replacement of plant and vehicle fleet, as well as the upgrade and replacement of information technology.

As the owner of a small business, Mr Gale said this could be an area councillors could consider reducing costs.

"Extending the life of a perfectly serviceable asset is an example of where to save money on expenditure" Mr Gale said.

"I'd like to have new vehicles for my small business every year but unlike council, small business exists in a competitive environment where we have to choose between what we actually need compared to what we want.

"We can't just put prices up because our customers have no choice."