Lithgow City Council to vote on future of rate rise plan

The council has been canvassing public opinion on the proposed rise, which would retain the current 4.77 per cent special rate variation, and introduce a 4.23 per cent increase. This would be on top of the 2.7 per cent rate peg amount set by IPART (the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal). 

This would result in a total increase of 11.7 per cent for the 2019-2020 financial year. 

While a notice of intention has been sent to IPART indicating that the council would be considering the move, councillors would need to vote to approve the plan for the application to go forward. 

If councillors voted to proceed, the application for the rate increase would need to be lodged with IPART by February 11. 

Lithgow is one of 14 local government areas which has indicated its interest in applying for a special rate variation in the 2019-2020 financial year. 

At the January 29 meeting, Lithgow City Councillors will be considering the application, as well as submissions from the community and the results of a phone poll conducted by Micromex Consulting over two days in December. 

The phone poll, which randomly contacted residents from Lithgow, Portland, Wallerawang and rural areas in the shire, included responses from 401 people, 86 per cent of whom were ratepayers, according to information released by council. 

In opposition to the rise, a petition has been circulated in Portland’s township, attracting more than 400 signatures. 

READ MORE

The signatures were collected under the message “We are not interested in increasing our rates as we have not seen any upgrade to services for the local area of Portland”. 

Portland resident Premala Sangarananda said she distributed the petition to local businesses and organisations and those who signed did so without urging. 

She criticised the process of gathering public comment on the issue, as the period for public submissions closed on January 11. 

“Many people were away over the holiday period and did not return until after that date,” she said. 

Ms Sangarananda said she could not understand why there was no move to hold forums on the issue to gain a real understanding of people’s concerns. 

“This should have been a process carried out over several months.”

Ms Sangarananda said the petition, which was lodged with council after the January 11 deadline, may not be eligible to be taken into account at the meeting’s discussions.

She has been urging people to attend the meeting at council’s chambers on Tuesday night. 

In public statements released by Lithgow City Council, it stated that the “alternative to a Special Rate Variation application is to reduce services to deliver a balanced operating result, consistent with ‘Fit for the Future’ requirements”.  

“Council currently spends approximately $19 million on asset maintenance and renewal each year, however; we need to be investing an additional $1.1 million per year to avoid deterioration of assets such as roads, building and stormwater drainage.” 

According to figures released by council, the projected total income from the special rate variation has been estimated at $1.178 million for the 2019/2020 year, with $725,000 earmarked for transport (including road and pathway maintenance), $100,000 on stormwater drainage and $250,000 on buildings. 

A rates calculator tool has been made available on council’s website at www.haveyoursay.lithgow.com to compare rates under based on their land valuation.