Forbes Shire Council will be holding a special meeting on Monday, March 2 to schedule a by-election to fill the vacant position left by the late Ron Penny.
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As part of the Local Government Amendment Act, it is required that council must hold a by-election within three months of a councillor vacancy occurring.
Following the recent passing of Cr Penny, Forbes Shire Council must now schedule a date for the by-election, which needs to be held by May 21, 2015.
Council will hold on open meeting on Monday at the council chambers starting at 5.30pm to choose a date for the by-election and to determine how the election will be run.
Forbes Shire Council’s general manager Brian Steffen said usually the NSW Electoral Commission would run the election but they are currently tied up with the NSW state election.
Mr Steffen said council has the option of contracting the Australian Electoral Commission to hold the by-election or they can do it themselves.
“If we do it ourselves, we’d have to find a returning officer because I can’t do it,” Mr Steffen said.
At this stage, Mr Steffen said he is unsure of what the costs will be but knows it will be significantly costly to use either electoral commission.
“It’s normally $50,000 for a full local government election but this one could cost about half that,” he said.
