June 18, 2025
Large rate rises for 2025-26 were locked in by Toowoomba Regional Council at a Special Meeting held on Wednesday.
Mayor Geoff McDonald said the TRC had adopted a general rate rise of 9.5 per cent for urban residential ratepayers, ie. about $241 a year.
As well, the water infrastructure charge for an average property would rise by $83.30.
Mayor McDonald said a “modest” $1.5 million surplus had been forecast.
“This year’s Budget is about strengthening our foundations with a clear focus on careful financial management, delivering essential services to our growing communities and maintaining existing infrastructure,” he said.
“We have included a 5 per cent pay-on-time discount for all residential ratepayers (including rural residential) and have again offered generous pensioner rebates of $120 per year which supports more than 10,900 pensioner households across our region.
“The continued rising cost to Council of delivering business-as-usual services to our region has seen Council working extremely hard to adopt a sustainable Budget.
“We have made provisions for a $469 million operational spend while $236 million has been allocated to Council’s capital projects.”
Mayor McDonald said the TRC had budgeted for rising costs in electricity ($14.4 million, up $1.9 million), insurance ($5 million, up $2.1 million) and fuel ($5.7 million).
“Just like households, these are unavoidable expenses for Council that keep rising well beyond inflation each year,” Mayor McDonald said.
“We continue to be burdened this year with the Queensland State Government’s Waste Levy Bin Tax … essentially, the State Government is taxing us for the amount of waste which ends up in our landfills.
“We have budgeted $9 million to cover the full cost of the levy, with a gap of $4.2 million to be funded from general rates and commercial gate fees after the State Government’s annual waste levy payment.”
Budget highlights include:
- $263 million for water and wastewater projects (including $96.5 million for the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project);
- $160 million for roads, drainage, footpaths and bikeways;
- $122 million for community services, facilities and parks and recreation projects;
- $50 million for waste services;
- $17.5 million for Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements
- $2.7 million to procure and deploy Smart Water Meters on customer connections
Once again ratepayers have not been told what the Water Consumption Charges are. It is also not specified that the early payment discount for water rates has been totally deleted. Council better utilise the administration staff to initiate all the sales that will be forthcoming from unpaid rates.
A *generous* pensioner discount of $120 per year. How laughable. Those existing on the pension only (we must remove this ridiculous idea that all pensioners have millions in super… many of us only have the house we live in, something we cannot realise for cash because we, err, live in it!) will be soooo grateful.
I may not be brilliant at maths but $241 minus $120 still leaves the Council with a bonus of $121. Pensioners are behind, yet again. The same applies to lower-income earners, also struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.
The govt may say inflation is under control, but the Bills coming in and the grocery shop say NO.