Local Government Minister Nic Street surprised councils this week by announcing the reform, with many Northern Tasmanian mayors saying they had not been consulted.

However, Mr Street said he had consulted widely with the Local Government Association of Tasmania and had met with a number of the region's mayors.

A common thread emerging from the Northern Tasmania's councils regarding the timing of the announcement was that they had no idea it was coming, and many were unable to provide thorough feedback because they hadn't had any pre-warning to prepare.

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Meander Valley mayor Wayne Johnston said he hadn't had time to meet with the Minister since he had taken on the role, and although he believed he'd missed digital communications with him, he hadn't spoke to him on the phone prior to the announcement of the local government reform.

However, he said Meander broadly support the reforms, which would help increase the participation for their vote, which sits around 58 per cent, similar to the state average.

That sentiment was shared by the mayor of Dorset, who also said he hadn't met with the Minister, nor knew who he was. Other mayors such as Launceston, West Tamar and George Town, said they had met with the Minister but still had not known the announcement was being announced this week.

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Mr Street said he'd met with "a number of Northern Tasmanian mayors" but said he was looking forward to getting back on the road following the hand down of the budget.

He said he would be providing updates on the progress of the legislation moving forward, but the timeline was necessary to have it in place for this year.

"A working draft of the legislation was provided to the Local Government Association of Tasmania for consultation and feedback at that time, and the Local Government Division met with LGAT. I have attended legislation briefings provided to Members of the House of Assembly yesterday [Wednesday], and Members of the Legislative Council [Thursday]."

The government will bring the legislation for debate in the Parliament next week.

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"The legislation timeline is necessary to enable time to design and implement an appropriate information campaign to inform the public of the new requirements for this year's elections, if passed," Mr Street said.

There have been attempts at legislating mandatory voting for local government elections in the past, but all attempts have failed at being legislated.

However, Mr Street said this proposal would ensure it was "cost-neutral to councils" and the feedback he had received had been broadly supportive.

Local government elections are scheduled for October this year.

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