Another rate rise could be on the cards for Central Coast residents if Council decides to apply for the 3.8 per cent rate peg rise approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for the region for 2023-24.
IPART has set the 2023-24 base rate peg for NSW councils at 3.7 per cent, with an allowance for level of population growth meaning some councils will have rate pegs of up to 6.8 per cent.
The Central Coast peg has been set at 3.8 per cent.
IPART says the rate peg protects ratepayers from “excessive increases in Council rates by limiting the total amount by which councils can increase income from rates each year”.
But this could be cold comfort to ratepayers still reeling from an announcement in May that a Special Rate Variation (SRV), allowing for a 13 per cent increase on Central Coast rates (outside the rate peg) until 2031 had been approved.
An IPART spokesperson confirmed that Council could adopt the 3.8 per cent rate peg rise on top of the 13 per cent SRV approved for 20 years from July 1, 2021.
IPART says the increase is below the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) year-ended Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate of 5.3 per cent to June 2022.
IPART Chair Carmel Donnelly said higher inflation means that councils are facing increased costs in delivering services to the communities they serve.
“We have taken these increased costs into consideration while also trying to limit the level of rate increases that ratepayers are facing,” she said.
“IPART does not set the actual rates that households and businesses pay, which is a decision for councils and their communities.
“However, councils must set those rates to ensure that the change in total rates income stays below the rate peg limit.”
IPART is currently reviewing the methodology it will use to set the rate peg from 2024-25 and is calling for public submissions to the Issues Paper which is available on IPART’s website until November 4.
“We will be looking at new approaches to setting the rate peg that reflect, as far as possible, changes in inflation and local government costs, while continuing to protect ratepayers from excessive rate increases,” Donnelly said.
IPART will also be consulting with stakeholders during workshops to be held in November.
A Draft Report will be released in February, 2023, setting out draft findings and recommendations.
IPART will then take further submissions on the Draft Report and hold a public hearing early next year, most likely in March.
Central Coast Council is expected to consider 2023-24 rates in coming months.
Terry Collins
Should we the People of the Central coast who Do not have an elected council have a rise in rates until we return to a government elected by the people, not some high and mighty appointed controller who has no approval(or real oversight) by the people of the Central Coast
OMG. There is already a SRV until 2031 in place. Why do you need to think about putting another rate rise up again. The amount of new homes now on the Central Coast is unbelievable as the council has not done there homework at all. There is No more provisions for school, doctors, hospitals, parks,medical centres, shopping centres and the list goes on for more amenities to be provided. It is very well just putting new homes on sites but where is all the new amenities for new home owners. Can’t even get kerb & guttering in our old areas.
Rate payers maybe more likely to accept rate rises if they could see basic amenities being delivered. I do not believe that the current generation of rate payers will ever see even the most basic requirements of paths and kerb and guttering being delivered in their lifetime.
We do not even have an elected council and the current administrator has been a huge disappointment simply for ever increasing rates and selling off anything that is not nailed down. I do not see any plan for providing basic infrastructure to ensure the safety of the children and the large aging population of the Central Coast.
There is no justification for another rate hike given all the extra money Council Administrator Rik Hart has already plundered from ratepayers.
The July 2021 special rate variation already raises an extra $250M over 10 years despite Mr Hart saying he only needed $110M from rates to repay loans from the financial crisis (with asset sales repaying the rest of the loans).
Then there’s a 35% increase in water rates on top of that.
No wonder Mr Hart is constantly issuing press releases boasting about ”financial turnarounds.”
Sadly, he has failed to convert this extra money into improved services.
Consider some recent performance reports.
A few weeks ago, IPART published its quarterly survey of water utilities. Customer satisfaction with Central Coast Council declined yet again this quarter from an already low base. It is by far the worst performing utility in the survey.
In fact, Central Coast Council’s performance has declined across every category in the survey every quarter since the Administrator appointed David Farmer CEO in April 2021.
It’s not just water and sewerage services that are getting worse.
This July, a Council report admitted that development applications (DAs) outstanding more than a year had doubled in the previous six months.
Median determination times for DAs shot up to 71 days – by far the worst quarterly result in the six years covered by the report.
Ratepayers can also see with their own eyes the state of the roads and other poorly maintained areas, the inefficient and often bungled way pothole repairs are managed, and the culture of missed deadlines and poor customer relations.
So, why haven’t Council services improved despite all the massive rate hikes?
Mr Hart has always been too simplistic in equating higher rates with better services.
Indeed, IPART’s survey of water utilities shows that since Sydney Water decreased water rates by 8.3% in July 2020, it has improved customer satisfaction ratings across all categories.
Messrs Hart and Farmer, on the other hand, in taking the easy option to slug ratepayers, failed to address the underlying causes of Council’s past and continuing poor performance.
These include poor management, bad culture, insufficient prioritisation, and productivity still lower than before the merger in 2016/17.
Rather than planning another rate increase, Mr Hart should address these underlying performance issues and return some of his past plunder to ratepayers.
Otherwise, his legacy will be one of far higher rates and worse services than before he arrived.