Horsham rates plan

A Horsham Rural City Council draft 2018-19 draft budget includes a rates increase within a State Government-imposed rate cap of 2.25 percent.

The council voted on Monday night to make the draft available for community comment and submission until 5pm, June 5.

The plan, despite staying within the rate cap, is designed to ‘maintain service delivery, continue operational initiatives to become more efficient and effective in the way services are delivered, while still investing in new and renewal of ageing infrastructure’.

It is the second year in a row the council has avoided applying to the Essential Service Commission for a rate-cap variation.

The council proposes to keep its draft rates strategy unchanged for 2018-19, but to increase a municipal charge from $281 to $287, a rise of 2.14 percent. It also proposes to continue a rates differential for the farming sector, maintaining a farm differential of 80 percent of the general rate with plans to review the percentage in detail later in 2018 for a 2019-20 budget-planning cycle.