Some Victorian Councils are concerned that a new website for comparing rates and other performance measures will make certain regions look bad.

The government is preparing to roll out the MyCouncil website, which is based on the schools version as part of a $2.5 million fund to increase council accountability and transparency.

Victorian Local Government Minister Tim Bull said the site will feature a number of indicators for council finances, provision of roads and rubbish services, quality of governance and other measures.

But some opponents say MyCouncil will be just an unnecessary expense, which unhelpfully creates a league table to pit local governments against each other.

Mr Bull said the site if about giving residents all the information they need.

“People will be able to use the MyCouncil website to see how their council compares with other similar councils, how their rates are being spent and whether they are getting value for money, which will in turn help drive improvements across the local government sector,” he told News Corp reporters.

Mr Bull calls the comparison site an Australian-first. It will bring together data from the existing sources such as the ‘Find Your Local Council’ website, which saw around 70, 000 visits a month.

Victorian Local Governance Association chief executive Dr Andrew Hollows said while reporting and accountability are great improvements to local governance, the website could cost too much.

“Ultimately, the website will unfairly pit councils against each other in a meaningless league table,” he said.

“The bulk of the money should be spent helping councillors continue an honest, fair dinkum conversation with residents about rates and services.”

Municipal Association of Victoria president Cr Bill McArthur said there was a danger that councils would be faced with reporting too much detail when the new performance system kicked off.

“There’s always an apprehension of where this will lead to and whether you’re actually comparing apples with apples and oranges with oranges,” he said.

Victoria’s new council performance reporting and financial monitoring system will come into play this July.

Mr Bull has assured the VLGA that councils will not be compared unfairly, when the site launches in 2015.