Like many councils across NSW, Council faces the challenge of how to best maintain services and ageing infrastructure – the cost of which is rising faster than Council’s income.

Following the August 2017 Meeting, Ballina Shire Council resolved to proceed with community consultation on a special rate variation proposal (SRV) above the rate peg set by the NSW Government.

The proposed rate increase below has now been approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), for 2018/19 and 2019/20. The total special rate variation is as follows:  

As the above table shows, there will be a 9.1% increase for 2018/19 and a 5.9% increase for 2019/20 (including a rate peg of 2.3%), which will be a cumulative rate increase of 15.54%.

 

The income from the rate increase will allow Council to renew key infrastructure such as roads, stormwater, playgrounds, and community buildings in a timelier manner and to fund the healthy waterways program.

The NSW Government established its Fit for the Future Program in 2014 where all Councils in NSW needed to identify how they would comply with a range of financial criteria to demonstrate that they were financially sustainable. In responding to this program, Ballina Shire Council submitted a proposal to increase the general rate income above the standard rate pegging limit for a three year period from 2017/18 to 2019/2020. The proposal was submitted to IPART and Ballina Shire Council was identified as Fit for the Future. Both submission and determination documents are available below :

• Council's Fit For The Future Submission
• Fit for the Future Determination

Like To Know More ?

If you have further questions regarding this Special Rate Variation Proposal, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions.