Manilla Early Learning chases answers after annual fees to the NSW regulator soared to $2737

A small town childcare centre has asked for answers after their the annual fees to the regulator jumped from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Manilla Early Learning is the only centre in the NSW town 500km north of Sydney that caters for kids aged six weeks to six years, and now has a waitlist of more than 40 children.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Manilla Early Learning chases answers as regulator fees soar

The town of about 2300 people is located about 45 kilometres north of Tamworth.

Last year Manilla Early Learning paid $482 dollars to the regulator, but this year’s bill has soared to $2737.

“I was a bit concerned and got on and had a look and yes, mine was a 468 per cent increase,” Manilla Early learning director Sara Turner told 7NEWS.

“We want to do renovations and different things. We just can’t afford it.

“We are going week-to-week and to get this big bill will set us back.”

She said previous annual fee increases for the for-profit service had been small.

“We are talking in the 300s or 400s for your annual payment — but this is over $2000,” Turner said.

Turner said the small rural centre is now figuring out how to absorb the extra costs.

“I don’t really want to put it on the families because it’s just another fee they have to pay. We have been stuck between a rock and a hard place,” she said.

The increase came as a shock to Turner who said: “These come out from the NSW Early Learning Commission, and everyone pays it as an approved provider on the number of services you have, which is fair enough.”

“But we haven’t been notified of the increases and what they are using the money for?”