Gympie residents face tip price hike under new council fees

The Gympie council has voted unanimously to lift prices on a raft of services, and to scrap a discount for local residents to take rubbish to the dump, which for larger loads means a price hike of 63%.

Residents taking a trip to the tip or the pool will be paying more in the new financial year, with councillors including Mick Curran (left) and Mayor Glen Hartwig saying there would be “pain” with the price rises but inflation was hurting the council the same as people and businesses.

Gympie councillors say there will no doubt be “some pain” around incoming price hikes on things like trips to the tip or pool, or dog registration, but it is necessary to cover the cost of providing those services.

Councillors voted unanimously on Wednesday to adopt the new fees and charges for 2024-25, a move that will add at least 4 per cent to the price of a number of services and likely even more at the tip gate.

The new fees come into effect on Monday, July 1.

Councillor Mick Curran moved to accept the new fee schedule, acknowledging there was “some pain around some of the charges”.

“One thing councillors and our community must remember is that $8 million (raised by the fees) doesn’t go in the bank, it actually goes towards servicing those requests... the cost of our dumps, servicing our pools... there’s a whole myriad of things,” Mr Curran said.

“The cost of providing those services... can’t be running out the door.”

Residents taking a trip to the tip or the pool will be paying more in the new financial year, with councillors including Mick Curran (left) and Mayor Glen Hartwig saying there would be “pain” with the price rises but inflation was hurting the council the same as people and businesses.

Mayor Glen Hartwig agreed with Mr Curran on the pain incurred by the price rises, but said the council itself was not immune with inflation hurting “the council just as much as it hurts people’s personal lives and business”.

“We are suffering the same fate,” he said.

Under the new fees, a car trip to the tip will cost $10.

Dumping rubbish at the region’s tips will soon hit the wallet even harder under new fees adopted unanimously by Gympie councillors (including Mayor Glen Hartwig, right) ahead of the 2024 budget. (CEO Robert Jennings pictured left).

This was compared to a cost of $7.40 for regional residents who used the tip in 2023-2024, and down from the $10.50 charged to nonresidents.

The new proposed fees and charges do not make a distinction between those who live in the Gympie region, or outside it.

Without the discount (lor local residents), the price for a regular trip to the tip for Gympie residents would jump 35 per cent.

A medium load (up to 250kg) would cost $35 per trip.

This was a change to how similar sizes were measured in the past, when residents would pay $26.20 for a single axle ute or trailer and nonresidents would be charged $42.

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Fees Gympie residents were charged to use dumps in 2023-24 included a price for region-only residents.

A large load, including a ute or van with trailer weighing between 250kg and 500kg, would now attract a fee of $70, in stark contrast to previous charges of $43 for residents and $79 for nonresidents.

Disposing of bulk loads weighing more than 500kg would now cost $270, up from the $256 charged in the previous financial year.

Changes to green waste disposal costs are on the cards too.

Free green waste disposal for residents is continued in the proposed new schedule, as long as the load weighs less than 100kg or is under 0.5cu m in size.

Disposing of more will come with a price tag of at least $5, with further charges of at least $20 per cubic metre, or $50 per tonne if the amount weights more than 100kg.

The staff report accompanying the proposed 2024-25 fees and charges does not specifically mention or outline why the changes are proposed.

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Proposed Gympie dump fees for 2024-25 financial year would be pricier for the region’s residents, if adopted by councillors.

It says cost recovery fees for services, which include waste and water, “are set at or as close as possible to full cost, with commercial fees set at rates that reflect market and other associated conditions”.

“In general, terms, the cost of services should be borne through fees and charges by those customers who benefit from

them,” the report says.

Fees and charges across the region’s services are expected to raise more than $8.7 million in operating revenue and are a “significant” source of income for the council.

Other proposed changes to fees and charges included in the new schedule include a 4.3 per cent increase for registering an entire dog, from $161 to $168.

This rise is less for pensioners, who would now pay $84 instead of $80, and even lower for those with dogs either desexed (from $48 to $50), or desexed and microchipped (from $12 to $15).

A trip to the Gympie aquatic centre will increase in price from $6 per person to $6.30 for adults, $4.10 to $4.30 for children, and $18 to $18.80 for a family.

The price to take a dip at other regional pools remains significantly cheaper, rising from $3.70 to $3.80 for adults, $3 to $3.10 for children, and $12.50 to $13 for families.