The City of Karratha has scrapped a proposed $100 buy local voucher to avoid delaying approval of its 2026-27 budget.

At a special council meeting on Wednesday, July 8, councillors unanimously voted to remove the voucher after receiving feedback from the Department of Local Government that its inclusion in the budget had made the ministerial approval process for the city’s differential rates more complex.

The intent of the proposed incentive was to support owner-occupiers and local small businesses within the community due to rising costs and being situated in a remote location.

But due to the complexity and a delay in ministerial approval, it was deemed appropriate to scrap the buy local voucher.

Chief executive Virginia Miltrup said the council originally suggested having a $100 BLV due to community feedback on cost of living.

“We had a lot of community feedback from the community around cost of living and the fact there were some real concerns,” she said.

“We’ve seen the State Government has also provided $100 fuel vouchers to people, so we were kind of taking that lead, but we get the impression that it’s made it more complicated.”

The CEO suggested the council looked more broadly at cost-of-living support for the community.

“That definitely came through strongly in the differential rates feedback that people, our residents and our ratepayers were looking for us to take some action there,” she said.

Cr Tony Simpson said removing the voucher would allow the city to progress its budget while considering alternative cost-of-living measures in the future.

“It’s great to hear that we can actually do a separate item, come back and look at a raft of measures that we can help in this cost of living and what we can do,” he said.

“We listen to our community as a whole.”

Cr Sarah Roots said the council had been listening to community concerns about cost-of-living pressures.

“We did hear our community loud and clear, and we need to respond to the administration in as balanced a way as we can as a civil leadership,” she said.

“It’s a challenging position that we’ve been put into, but by no means indicates that we’ve not heard the community and appreciate them taking the time to engage with us.

“It’s money that makes the world go around, and it’s what we need to support them in every way that we can.”

The council hopes scrapping the $100 voucher will provide clarity for the Department of Local Government to move forward with the budget.

On June 2, the council received approval for the 2026-27 financial year of a 3 per cent increase in GRV categories and a 7.5 per cent increase for the UV strategic industry as part of its budget.

The council was seeking ministerial approval for the transient workforce accommodation category but was still waiting on feedback.