June 27, 2016
South Burnett ratepayers will face an average 2.5 per cent rate rise after the South Burnett Regional Council handed down its 2016-17 Budget on Monday morning.
The rise is smaller than the 3.24 per cent average rise announced by Toowoomba Regional Council last week, and more than 50 per cent below the 5.1 per cent rise handed down by Gympie Regional Council.
The increase is also less than the 4.5 per cent rise the SBRC forecast 12 months ago.
It marks the third year in a row the Council has handed down a near-CPI rate rise, following steep increases in the first five years after amalgamation as it worked to introduce uniform rating across the region.
It is also the lowest rate rise since amalgamation in 2008.
As predicted, the $200-a-year Road Levy will stay in place.
But it will not be indexed, which means the real cost of the levy to ratepayers has now declined by about 6 per cent since it was introduced in the 2013-14 Budget.
The Environmental levy will increase by $1 to $28 per year; the Waste Management Levy will rise $4 to $125 per year; and domestic garbage collection charges will increase $4 to $153 per year.
Annual water access charges will increase by $40 from $495 to $535 for a standard 20mm connection, but there will be no change to water usage charges; and sewerage charges will rise by $60 per year for all residents outside Proston, where they will only rise by $25.
Against this, the region’s $200-a-year pensioner discount will stay in place, along with the 10 per cent discount for settlement of rates by the due date.
The lower-than-expected rate rise is partly the result of several windfalls the Council has received over the last year, and partly the result of a new round of cost-cutting since the March election.
As previously reported, the Council returned a $1.86 million surplus this year, significantly better than the $50,000 it had originally budgeted for.
This year it is forecasting a surplus of $789,000, despite the loss of a further $140,000 a year in grants funding.
Your Rates Bill This Year
- Related article: Mayor’s Budget Speech
