The Northern Midlands Council's expenditure on its case to recoup $1.79 million in supposedly unpaid rates from the owner of Launceston Airport has risen to $132,473.
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The figure has risen by more than $10,000 in five months, with a Right to Information request in July showing the figure was $122,220.
As of December, mayor Mary Knowles said the council had spent $132,473 on its rates court case against the airport.
The council's legal costs alone have cost more than $100,000, with court costs accounting for $23,612 and $7995 on unspecified costs.
The July RTI showed the council had also spent $26,665 on a community awareness strategy, including signs claiming the airport owned more than $1 million in rates situated around the region.
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Further defence costs are expected as the council's case was rejected in September but the council has appealed the decision.
Councillor Knowles confirmed the council's appeal was scheduled to be heard in the Federal Court in May 2020.
In October the council was ordered to pay the airport's legal costs and failed in its bid to avoid paying full costs in the ongoing legal battle with the airport and the Commonwealth over the rates.
They will need to pay for the airport's defence for a two-day hearing, five-day hearing, cross-claims and other associated legal fees in the Federal Court but a final figure will be compiled by the airport's legal team.
The dispute between the council and the airport owner Australia Pacific Airports Corporation started in 2013.
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