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Tweed Shire Council will lift general rates by 6.35% from 1 July after Council approved a Special Rate Variation (SRV) for the 2023/24 financial year.
At a meeting in Tweed Heads last night, Councillors voted by 5 votes to 2 to accept the SRV, with Councillors Warren Polglase and Reece Byrnes voting against the proposal.
Council had sought a 2.35% special rate rise on top of the 4% pegged rate rise already approved for 2023/24, which combined allows general rates to rise to 6.35% for the next financial year.
The vote was taken as part of the adoption of the Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework 2022-2026 Delivery Program and the 2023-2024 Operational Plan, which includes Budget papers for the next financial year.
The decision followed the approval last week of Council’s proposed SRV by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) and followed comprehensive engagement with Tweed residents, including community conversations, distribution of informational materials and leveraging of digital platforms to ensure the wider community could have their say.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry welcomed the decision.
“Nobody wants to see a rate rise but ultimately Council services are all very important to our community, so I am supportive of this 6.35% rise on the rates going forward,” Cr Cherry said.
“It was clear through our engagement process how valued Council services are. When we talked through the various options with residents and explained in detail why we had to do this, there was far greater acceptance of a rate rise after this process.”
Council was seeking to raise an additional $1.6 million through an SRV to cover the costs of additional cyber security, an essential IT upgrade, additional planning staff, insurances and to cover the cost of the removal of the Environmental Enforcement Levy.
The decision will see ordinary minimum residential and farmland rates rise by $22.85 to $1,166.65 for the 2023/24 financial year, while ordinary minimum business rates will rise by $22.15 to $1,282.45 for the year.
Combining the minimum residential rate increase with the other typical annual charges of water, sewerage and waste, will see a rise of $104.25 for the year. This will take the total minimum residential bill to $2,844.55 for the 2023/24 financial year – representing a 3.81% increase.
Councillors also approved the $287 million budget for 2023/24, which is comprised of 3 funds: $184 million from general funds, $51 million from water funds and $52 million from sewerage funds.
Capital expenditure totalling $86 million is included in the Budget, with key capital works projects earmarked for the 2023/24 financial year including:
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$22 million for sewer infrastructure
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$15.2 million for various capital roadworks, not including flood recovery works
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$8 million for the Murwillumbah Depot relocation
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$5.8 million for Waste Transfer Station infrastructure
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$5.2 million for the Animal Rehoming Centre relocation
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$5.2 million for the Clarrie Hall Dam wall raising.
Council was one of 17 councils across NSW that applied for an SRV ahead of the next financial year, with the Tweed’s requested rate rise significantly lower than the rest.
And in 2022, Tweed was one of the few councils in NSW that did not apply for an SRV, with 86 councils granted the additional rate rise last year by IPART.
Ratepayers are encouraged to assess the impact of the SRV on their respective properties by using the General Rate calculator available on Council’s website at tweed.nsw.gov.au/general-rate-calculator.
Anyone significantly affected by the rate increase is urged to reach out to Council at their earliest opportunity to discuss possible hardship assistance.
Find out more about how rates are calculated at tweed.nsw.gov.au/rates-explained.
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