Rates to rise 2.4 per cent in Brisbane City Council budget

Brisbane property owners will face 2.4 per cent rates increase in a 2017-18 budget that includes $50 million for Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's signature metro project.

For owner-occupied residential properties, that meant an average rate rise of $37 a year, or 72¢ per week.

Cr Quirk will hand down his seventh Brisbane City Council budget on Wednesday.

But while it will include the lowest rates rise since 2011, it was still well above Brisbane's March quarter inflation rate of 1.8 per cent.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will deliver his lowest average rate rise at his seventh Brisbane City Council budget on Wednesday.Credit: Robert Shakespeare

Last week, Labor opposition leader Peter Cumming said he feared a rate rise above the inflation rate would make it hard for residents to pay their bills and put food on the table.

Average rates for commercial properties and the average increase to council fees and charges, including general waste, will also will rise by 2.4 per cent.

Cr Quirk said the budget would be "modest" and bring value for money for ratepayers while still delivering public transport subsidies and pensioner remissions.

"This budget reflects our ongoing dedication and enthusiasm toward keeping Brisbane on the right track," he said.

There was $50 million allocated for the Brisbane Metro in the Brisbane City Council's 2017-2018 budget.Credit: BCC

"This is a modest budget which I believe not only ticks all the boxes when it comes to retaining our strong credit rating but it also allocates enough funds to deliver on our promise to be the majority funder of the Brisbane Metro.

"With the continued investment in much needed infrastructure, my team have worked hard to keep this increase as low as possible while providing sound economic management."

The average rate rise in the 2016-2017 Brisbane City Council budget was 4.7 per cent.Credit: Chris Hyde

The budget's $50 million spend on the Brisbane Metro in 2017-2018 will fund a concept design and impact management plan, site investigations and progress project approvals.

The forward estimate for the $944 million metro project in this year's budget was just over $5 million, with a further $98 million for 2018-2019 and about $102 million in 2019-2010.

Further revised timelines of how the council will fund two-thirds of the Brisbane Metro will be released in the full budget documents on Wednesday morning, but Cr Quirk said construction would commence in 2019 and be completed by 2022.

Other known outcomes of the $3 billion 2017-2018 budget are:

• $1 billion to improve the city's road network
• $123 million public transport subsidy
• $43 million for river-based tourism and recreation
• 40 per cent rates remission for full pensioners - increasing from a maximum of $967 to $990
• 20 per cent remission for part pensioners - increasing from a maximum of $451 to $462

Average rate rises in Brisbane during Graham Quirk's tenure as lord mayor:

• 2017-2018 – 2.4 per cent
• 2016-2017 - 4.7 per cent
• 2015-2016 - 2.5 per cent
• 2014-2015 - 3.85 per cent
• 2013-2014 - 3.8 per cent
• 2012-2013 - 4.49 per cent
• 2011-2012 - 1.79 per cent