Rates increases to be announced in the forthcoming budget would be below the 3.6 percent Brisbane CPI for the average householder, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said at this week’s council meeting.

Asked by Opposition leader Cr Shayne Sutton if he would either commit to a 3.6 percent rates cap for all properties in his budget or acknowledge that some ratepayers would pay an increase over the inflation rate, Cr Quirk said the rating system in Brisbane had been used for four decades and was as fair as possible.

“Despite the fact there was never going to be a perfect system we had the best system that was available to us,” Cr Quirk said.

Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council was working hard to keep rates as low as possible because householders and business owners were doing it tough because of a slow economy and high debt.

“The rate outcome in the upcoming budget tomorrow will be lower than inflation,” Cr Schrinner said.

By contrast, he said that Labor’s rates increase had been above inflation for nine out of their last 10 years in office.

Quoting former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he said: “The problem with socialists is that they eventually run out of other people’s money”.