Householders fear worst

COUNCIL rates have again become a burning issue, just two days after the release of Gladstone Region Council's budget for 2011-12.

COUNCIL rates have again become a burning issue, just two days after the release of Gladstone Region Council's budget for 2011-12.

The centre-piece of the 2011-12 budget was a relatively low average rates increase of 2.8%, but ahead of the August 4 notification to residents of their new rates, some rate-payers are already up in arms over a potential increase of 10%.

The increase of 2.8% (significantly lower than current CPI of 3.8%) is an average across the Gladstone Region's entire 28,000 rate-payers. A council spokesman told the Observer 37% of properties will see either a decrease in their rates or an increase of less than CPI. The 2011-12 budget caps the possible increase to any rates at a maximum 10%.

It is the prospect of a 10% increase that has some rate-payers seeing red.

Dalrymple St resident Herb Linwood told The Observer yesterday he feared a 9% increase to his rates. Council yesterday confirmed that Mr Linwood's rates would increase by 10%.

Mayor Gail Sellers said there were no easy answers when evaluating rates levels across the board. “It is a 2.8% increase across the whole region,” she said. “It's very hard to decide where the increases are going to go.

“If you compare our rate increases to other places in Queensland this year, we have done very, very well. No one yet has been able to find a fairer way of collecting the rating dollar. We have to use something that's basic, and it's across the whole board.”

She said pensioners such as Mr Linwood would receive a discount of up to $290 from council (a move she said most councils had abandoned) as well as a $200 discount from the state government.

Rates last year were calculated by multiplying the value of a property by 0.0103 cents. For 2011-12, that figure has been reduced to 0.0094 cents.

But with site valuations rising from last year (the valuation of Mr Linwood's home has increased from $86,000 to $116,000) rates will increase.

A sample list from council shows increases of 10% in a number of locations.

Originally published as Householders fear worst