The cumulative total of rate rises imposed by the council on its ratepayers over the past three years tops more than 16 per cent.

Rates have gone up 4.75 per cent this year, 4.75 per cent last year and 7 per cent the year before. Worse is that the 7 per cent rise in 2012 was the last of a “triple crown” of such rises.

But let’s be kind and just look at the past three years.

There wouldn’t be many people in Wodonga lucky enough to have seen their pay packets increase at that 16 per cent rate.

Yet, every year, Wodonga Council is one of many that imposes this burden on the people that elected it.

Every year, councils expect their ratepayers to make the necessary adjustments in their budgets to ensure they are in a position to cough up their rates.

Those who fail to do so will, at some point, be taken to court.

Rate rises, of course, come on top of rises across the board to things we can’t blame the council for — electricity, water, gas, fuel, food, and the list goes on.

Something has to go by the wayside — unless you happen to be one of those lucky people earning at least 16 per cent more today than you did three years ago.

But Wodonga Council seems to figure that with a debt that currently tops $30 million, what’s another million? This is the logic that is so offensive.

In 2012, the Municipal Association of Victoria’s assessment of 70 out of 79 councils in the state ranked Wodonga third for all rates notices, above Toorak and Kew.

This in a city that has a median house price of about $290,000.

It seems Wodonga Council has not just forgotten who it is it represents. Their plan to spend up to $1 million on a piece of art in a city with far less than 20,000 ratepayers shows it may well have forgotten where it is it lives.

Art is a wonderful thing, and we people of Wodonga are no less deserving of it than people in other cities. But is it really the most important thing for a city carrying a debt of more than $30 million and with rates already some of the highest in the state?

There’s no argument Wodonga is becoming a better place.

The Cube along with Quest Apartments and Huon Hill pub are impressive developments, and major roadworks are either under way or have been completed.

The Mann shopping centre, due to get under way this year, will be a major boon for the city.

It should not be forgotten businesses and ratepayers in the city have been patient in difficult times with the amount of development that has already gone on.

It has come at a cost to business. But almost without exception, business owners and ratepayers have embraced council’s grand vision, putting up with the short-term pain for the long-term gain.

It now feels like a bit of a slap in the face to be told council wants to spend up to another $1 million to “complete the transformation”.

In giving “some latitude” to artists with an offensive budget of $1 million, Wodonga Council has ostracised many who might otherwise have supported the idea.

Wodonga mayor Rodney Wangman has stressed $1 million is “the uppermost limit”. If one were to be facetious they might well ask, why only $1 million, if in fact council has no intention of actually spending that amount? It must be noted here that this council has not established a good track record when it comes to underspending its ratepayers’ money.

It’s a strange move, particularly in light of the fact that a new Victorian government says it will stand by its pre-election promise to cap rates from 2016-17.

In a saving grace for Wodonga’s ratepayers, that old trick of lifting rates by 7 per cent for a few years will no longer fly.

Council will need permission to raise rates above inflation, currently less than 3 per cent.

And one would like to think that any prudent state government will be on the side of ratepayers and laugh at the notion that bankrolling a $1 million artpiece does not come close to being classed as an exceptional circumstance.