|
We support the continuation of the cap on councils’ rate rises
In the 10 years from 2004 to 2014 council rates rose by100 per cent (ABS statistics for Melbourne) which is three times more than CPI, and more than double the actual costs councils had experienced according to the Municipal Association of Victoria’s estimates. The Australian Bureau of Statistics measures the increase in household expenditure which comprises a list of about 40 items. The list showed that only water/sewerage, electricity and tobacco rose by more than council rates in that decade. However in 2015 the Victorian Government introduced a cap on the annual increase in council rates. Since then each year the Minister for Local Government has to set a cap on rate increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and advice from the Essential Services Commission. The decision is made by 31 December each year to enable council's to apply the cap to rates in the following year. Councils can apply for a higher cap if they can demonstrate community support and a critical need for spending on services or projects that requires a rate rise above the capped amount. The Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers' Association strongly supported the cap on rates which, since its introduction, has resulted in rate increases being about one third of those of the previous increases over the last decade. Dr Alan Nelsen, McCrae Secretary, Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers’ Association Inc. October 2018 
|
| ||
