MidCoast Council welcomes possible changes

Published on 07 June 2023

MidCoast Council welcomes the potential for changes to the way rates and rate charges are implemented.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) which is responsible for regulating rates and increases have released a draft report proposing changes to the way rates are structured.

“It is clear that IPART has listened to councils and the community and have made sensible recommendations to adjust the rate peg methodology,” MidCoast Mayor Claire Pontin said.

The rate peg is the maximum amount in percentage terms by which a council can increase its total rates income in a year. IPART sets this percentage every year as the delegate of the Minister for Local Government.

In developing the draft report IPART received feedback from different councils and ratepayers across the State.

“Importantly IPART has acknowledged all councils in NSW are not the same and proposes a methodology which groups councils into Metropolitan, Regional and Rural,” Mayor Pontin said.

Under the proposed change MidCoast Council would be categorised as regional.

Under the proposed changes the controversial Emergency Services Levy will also be acknowledged and considered, including an adjustment based on each council’s individual emergency services levy impact.

“IPART has also recognised that in addition to adjusting the rate peg the financial model for Local Government needs to be investigated to address financial sustainability issues,” Mayor Pontin said.

“The report recommends an independent investigation into the financial model for NSW Councils.

 “We will examine the detail of the report and provide comments to IPART by 4 July and look forward to the final report being issued in August 2023.”