After a five hour marathon extraordinary council meeting last night there were some big winners and some big losers when the Operational Plan for 2020/21 was finally adopted.

All councillors acknowledged that this was not a budget that our community will be happy with and that is where the agreeance ended. There were two distinct camps when discussing and voting for this budget.

One camp, which included Councillors Marks, Bird, Ekins, Moorhouse, Cook and Mayor Smith were in favour of passing the Operational Plan to start on July 1 despite the pain it was going to cause because otherwise it would transfer a poor financial position over to another year yet again with the real possibility of an Administrator being appointed to run Lismore City Council.

The other camp which includes Councillors Guise, Lloyd, Battista, Casson and Bennett do not want to pass a budget that still has loss making assets such as the quarry, the airport and GSAC with no real solutions in place.

General Manager Shelley Oldham saying that councillors were told when she took the job it would take five years to turn these assets around.

So, at 11:15pm the Operational Plan for 2020/21 was declared carried by Mayor Isaac Smith.

At the start of the meeting the cash deficit was forecast to be $282,000 by the end of the meeting it stands at $458,000.

The increase was due to the reinstatement of $180,000 for the management fee to operate NORPA for the next twelve months. NORPA was the biggest winner on the night.

NORPA's win was The Quads loss as the $40,000 decrease in budget for a Placemaker Officer position was not approved after an amendment to the budget put forward by councillor Ekins.

Another winner was the Tip Voucher scheme. This was amended to include one voucher per household for next year but this will be capped meaning that of the 19,000 households the first 5,000 or so can use the voucher then all vouchers will be stopped. The exact number was not confirmed but will meet budget expectations.

While tip vouchers was a winner, the Brewster Street Recycle facility was a loser, it will remain permanently closed while a new venue will be planned for during the year.

The Nimbin Walking Trail will go ahead if funding can be found while the Lismore Lake Pool will not be included in the Operational Plan for 2020/21.

The Lismore Tourist Information Centre and the Nimbin Tourist Information Centres will close from July 1. What this means for our tourism industry or where visitors coming into town can go to seek information was not made clear. Dr Sharon Harwood Director Partnerships, Planning and Engagements said "there is no money to run any Visitor Information Centres".

There is no doubt that this is a tough budget for the people of Lismore and surrounds to swallow as well as for the councillors to pass. There will be job losses and some reduction in services like events at the Quad. We can only hope that this budget is the one that turns around the Lismore City Council's ongoing precarious financial position.

Whether you are for or against this council, one point was very clear after last nights budget meeting, this is a council that is deeply divided.

Thanks to COVID-19 the local council elections have been postponed for twelve months with a new date set for September 4, 2021.