Corowa Shire council is becoming increasingly concerned about residents’ poker machine spending – especially since it is getting in the way of council tax payments. According to a report in the Border Mail, millions of dollars’ worth of council taxes will be due by the end of June. The annual council tax is paid for in four instalments, and the final payment is due on June 30. However, the current amount outstanding has topped $2 million.

This not only includes balances from 2013 – 2014; it also includes accounts that have been in arrears for a long period of time. City councillors believe that most families are unable to pay their council tax bills due to prioritising luxury spending. They not that many of the accounts that are in arrears belong to homes in which parents spend hundreds of dollars on pokies and other entertainment.

“There are legitimate cases of people with hardship but most families are paying $70 to $80 a month on internet connections and we’ve got a lot of poker machine venues that are bigger than I have ever seen before and they are full,” says Chris Gillard, general manager of Corowa. He admits that there are some cases in which the household has experienced financial hardship.

However, he notes that a large majority of individuals in the area have simply neglected their payments in order to pump more money into pokies. The council has recently introduced a new surcharge that will add 8.5% interest on all late council tax payments.

It has not been around long enough to gauge whether or not it will be successful in encouraging local residents to spend less on pokies and put more money towards their council tax payments.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.