BATTLER’S BUDGET
TOWNSVILLE City Council will cut general rates by 5 per cent for the first time since amalgamation in 2008.
In her sixth Budget, to be handed down this morning, Mayor Jenny Hill will announce the council will freeze rates while cutting 5 per cent off gross general rates.
But the earlybird discount for paying before the due date will be slashed from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.
Cr Hill said the rate reduction was made possible through the organisation’s restructure and the 5 per cent reduction in the discount, with the entire move to cost the council about $ 2.4 million in revenue. She said the council was on track to keep utilities charges ( water, sewerage, waste) at around the level of CPI or 2.1 per cent.
“The restructure has allowed us to manage the business better,” she said. “We want to take that 5 per cent permanently off the rates.” The new structure means: Those who pay early will see their discount reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, a net increase in overall rates and charges of about 1.48 per cent, or 88¢ a week.
For those families who cannot pay their rates early and take advantage of the discount, the cost of full, un- discounted rates and charges will mean a reduction of about $ 44.
Cr Hill said the slight increase on discounted rates was one of the lowest in Queensland.
“This is about making our rates fairer across the community, and council is taking a financial hit to achieve this,” she said. “We are in a stronger position to do this as a result of the work that is being done to make the council financially sustainable.
“With state land valuations revised down in many areas of Townsville this year, around 13,000 property owners are likely to see a drop in their overall rates and charges.”
The council last week revealed the Budget would return to surplus in 2017- 18, enabling the restructured organisation to place downward pressure on rates.
While the council has been slugged with an $ 11 million loss from rates, fees and pumping water from the Burdekin Dam, it has predicted a marginal surplus of $ 133,000. About $ 14 million is expected to be saved annually as a result of the 144 jobs being axed following the restructure, with another $ 14 million to be saved from further efficiencies outlined in last year’s Nous Report.
Cr Hill said there would have been a rates increase of about 3 per cent without the restructure. “I want to follow up last year’s rates freeze with a budget that provides a further break for the people in our community who are struggling,” she said.
“There are thousands of households in the city who don’t get the benefit of the early payment discount or struggle to make the early payment deadline.”
Editorial, page 18