Wyndham council is yet to decide whether it will apply for a rates increase higher than the consumer price index cap of 2.5 per cent, despite a suggestion it will.
A press release issued last week by the Essential Services Commission (ESC) stated Wyndham was one of 21 Victorian councils to have indicated an intention to apply for a bigger increase. In submitting the notification, councils were not yet required to specify the rate increase they would be seeking.
Councils which do seek a rates rise higher than the state government-imposed cap have until March 31 to submit their application to the ESC.
Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said the council had yet to decide.
She said councils had been required to notify the ESC by last month if they wanted to seek a variation to the proposed rate cap.
“In our correspondence to the ESC in January, we said council was yet to make a decision and that this would likely happen in February. Wyndham council is currently working through the impacts of the rate cap and the feedback provided as part of our community consultation process and a decision will be made in coming weeks.”
In order to apply for an exemption, councils have to specify details of the size of the increase they are seeking. They must also include the reasons the council seeks a higher rate, the views of ratepayers and the community, how the higher rate is an efficient use of resources, whether consideration has been given to reprioritising proposed expenditure, and whether the application is consistent with the council’s long-term strategy and financial management policies.
Fair Go Rates legislation, which passed through State Parliament in October, is aimed at preventing councils from increasing rates by more than the official rate of inflation indicated by the consumer price index.
