THE rise figures contained in Fit for the Future submissions aren’t binding on councils, a local government expert says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
University of New England’s Centre for Local Government director Professor Brian Dollery said the Fit for the Future submissions consisted of a whole set of claims.
“They [rate rises in the submissions] are not binding – it’s just a calculation for the application,” he said.
Councils across the state, under the state government’s Fit for the Future reform, assessed their situation, defined by set criteria, and considered the future impacts and community needs.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s action plan included staged rate increases but the council recognised the submission did not bind this council or any future council to the suggested rate increases.
Council’s general manager Craig Swift-McNair this week quashed election claims, based on the council’s Fit for the Future submission, that the council was seeking an extraordinary 52.4 per cent rate rise.
The new council will make a decision about the level of rates.
Meanwhile, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal wants feedback on potential changes to the local government rating system.
The potential changes aim to provide councils with more options to levy rates and ensure ratepayers would be protected against excessive rate increases.
IPART chairman Dr Peter Boxall said draft recommendations were designed to improve the equity and efficiency in the way rates were raised from different groups of ratepayers, rather than increasing the dollar amount councils raised.
Enabling councils to choose between charging rates based on the current system of unimproved land value or capital improved value is one of the recommendations.
Professor Dollery said that recommendation was a step in the right direction.
Rates in NSW are based on unimproved value, which means the owners of units and apartments, who pay a share of the unimproved value of the land on which their building stands, pay proportionately less than house owners.
Local Government NSW president Keith Rhoades said the report recognised councils needed more options when setting rates if they were to meet the changing infrastructure and service needs of their communities.
He warned IPART’s recommendations were far from a silver bullet for financial sustainability, and if implemented, would be no more likely to resolve the financial challenges facing councils than the NSW government’s amalgamation program.
October 14 is the deadline for submissions.