A City of Ballarat officer’s report to go before councillors at the meeting on Wednesday evening, advises councillors not to make another application for an exemption from the rate cap.

The council was one of 10 Victorian municipalities to apply for an exemption from the rate capping scheme through the Essential Services Commission last year.

But the council’s previous bid to raise rates by 3.7 per cent was rejected by the ESC because it was not deemed not in the long-term interests of ratepayers.

The officer’s report suggests the council lobby state and federal government for a more equitable distribution of the taxation dollar and a thorough review of funding for local government infrastructure and services instead. Councillors will vote on the matter at the first ordinary council meeting on the year at the Town Hall on Wednesday evening.