13 May 2022
Shoalhaven City Council’s Draft Delivery Program-Operational Plan (DPOP) and 2022/23 Budget is currently on exhibition until 10 June 2022 and includes the option of a 4.53% increase to rates to improve services as well as park and road maintenance.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART) is responsible for setting the maximum amount councils can raise rates; known as a rate peg.
The rate peg for the Shoalhaven in the 2022/23 budget year has been set at 1.7%. Council will also apply a previously approved special rate variation of 2.83%, bringing the rate rise to 4.53%, which is an increase of approximately $60 per year to the 2022/23 rates for an average residential property.
The rates increase is outlined in the Draft Delivery Program-Operational Plan (DPOP) and 2022/23 Budget which was endorsed by Council to go on public exhibition until Friday, 10 June 2022.
Shoalhaven City Council Mayor, Amanda Findley said Council faces a challenging time ahead to maintain community services, particularly with the recent damage to roads caused by the recent rain events.
“The City, and our people, have been through an extended period of challenging times, many are feeling impact fatigue and frustrations are high, Council staff are flat out trying to meet the expectations of the community on those simple but important maintenance jobs.”
“The challenge of rate rises is that there never seems to be a good time, but it just cannot be put off any longer as the City falls further behind in meeting maintenance needs. This situation has been compounded by reduced revenue because of COVID, financial relief provided to the City during the really unknown early days of the pandemic, the impacts of severe weather, and rising costs.”
“It is essential to maintain and improve services for the wider Shoalhaven community, services that are available for people from the cradle to the grave and that we tap into during different periods of our lives.”
“Council is committed to providing important facilities and services that are often free or low cost. These are the services that support quality of life for our residents, some of which are doing it tough in our community.
“If there are any ratepayers struggling to make ends meet, Council has a hardship policy to ensure those who are vulnerable can pay in instalments. You can find more information on this on Council’s website at https://bit.ly/3w7mCoL,” Mayor Findley said.
“I know so many people in our City are too proud to ask for help, and just picking up the phone to make that call can be a struggle, but please reach out if you are suffering and don’t do that alone.”
“Getting our City back to where it was prior to this turbulent period is a priority of all the Councillors and finding ways to meet the expectations of the community is important. To that end, Councillors have made tough decisions to move some projects back to enable more funds to be available for the tasks at hand.”
“There are a number of projects that have received substantial funding from other levels of government and these projects will contribute to the ongoing prosperity of the City.”
“I encourage all people to engage with the budget, the elected Councillors are on the streets every day listening to the needs of the community and it is important that we hear from you on this important issue,” Mayor Findley said.
The Draft Delivery Program-Operational Plan and Budget 2022/23 is on public exhibition, on Council’s website, at getinvolved.shoalhaven.nsw.
Editors Notes: Rates rise to occur at time to time, but we never see rates decrease at all.
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