Mount Gambier council rates to rise by 10.24 per cent, waste fee to increase by nearly 50 per cent

A regional councillor says his council has been “running on the smell of an oily rag for far too long” and has been forced to hike rates by more than 10 per cent.

Mount Gambier council rates are set to spike by 10.24 per cent and the waste service charge will rise nearly 50 per cent next financial year.

The proposed increases are outlined in the Mount Gambier Council’s 2024/25 draft budget, which was the topic of extensive discussion at the council meeting Tuesday night.

The draft was unanimously endorsed by councillors and is now open for public consultation and will remain so until June 13.

The proposed 10.24 per cent rate rise is more than double the 4.5 per cent increase imposed two years ago. Last year the rates rose by 6.2 per cent.

Mayor Lynette Martin said even with the proposed rate increase, Mount Gambier would still be 18 per cent below last year’s South Australian rural average.

“City of Mount Gambier’s average residential rates have historically been significantly lower than the rural state average, and remain so,” she said.

“We are all very aware that it’s been a challenging time for us. It’s not easy for us to make these decisions. But this is a responsible decision.”

Council CEO Sarah Philpott said the proposals in the draft budget had been prepared after months of consideration regarding revenue required for council’s services, while facilitating growth and development for the city.

She said council has tried to minimise the impact of increasing costs for ratepayers in the past few years, including freezing rates, fees and charges during Covid and charging last year’s rate below actual CPI, however council has found it is now time “to do a bit of a reset”.

City of Mount Gambier CEO Sarah Philpott and Mayor of Mount Gambier Lynette Martin. Picture: Supplied

“It’s been a very complex process for council, we’re really conscious of the impact (given the current financial climate) and there are avenues in place to help people who may struggle, such as payment plans,” Ms Philpott said.

She said the average council rate in the Mount would increase by roughly $50 to $60 a quarter.

That included residential rates and the waste service fee, which would rise by 43.8 per cent from about $217 to $311.

“It’s a really good budget,” Ms Philpott said. “There’s a lot of investment into our city’s fantastic assets – which the community has told us over the years is what they want to see.”

Mount Gambier’s Railway Lands precinct; one of the City of Mount Gambier’s “fantastic” assets. Picture: City of Mount Gambier.

Despite the council’s many reasonings behind the rate increase, the Mount Gambier & District Residents and Ratepayers Association say it’s worried by the rates spike.

On Tuesday night, the public gallery of the council meeting was filled to capacity with concerned ratepayers who had come to listen to the deliberations.

“The association is deeply concerned about the proposed increases (both rates and waste charge),” a spokesperson said.

“We are particularly concerned about the financial stress that this will have on low-income families, pensioners and welfare recipients.

“We are also concerned that with the unprecedented increase in local property values, this will also result in a further increase in the final amount charged to households on top of the rate rises. The council has not included this in their revenue figures.

“Along with official interest rates rising, the financial stress that households will face (particularly for the most vulnerable members of our community), as a result of this increase, cannot be understated.”

Mount Gambier ratepayers have expressed concern regarding the city council’s proposed rate hikes for the upcoming financial year.

Councillor Paul Jenner said the council understands “how hard it is for the people to pay” and “are trying to screw every cent out of this budget”.

He said the council “has been running on the smell of an oily rag for far too long” and that among the many “realistic” rates council considered, the 10.42 per cent increase and waste service charge rise was “the best scenario we came up with”.

“We have been doing it cheaply. And we can no longer keep on doing it. Council’s costs have increased hugely over the past couple years.”

Now that the draft is open for public consultation, the community has until June 13 to make a submission.

A special public council meeting will be held on June 18 where people will have a chance to ask questions.

Ms Philpott said the most important thing community members could do to ensure their concerns were heard was to provide feedback through appropriate channels, such as Have Your Say Mount Gambier site.

“Be informed, be across the documents, and provide council with feedback through the correct avenues,” Ms Philpott said.

“We understand a lot of people tend to express their concerns and feelings on social media but unless they come through the relevant channels, we aren’t able to implement that feedback.”