Brisbane City Council to increase credit and debit card surcharge, new fee for unit development applications

Brisbane City Council has been slammed after it quietly raised the surcharge for residents using a credit or debit card to pay bills by 50 per cent.

Brisbane City Council’s surcharge for anyone using a credit or debit card to pay bills will shoot up by 50 per cent as of next month, budget documents reveal.

Another measure buried within the Council’s 2024-25 Budget, which Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner unveiled earlier this week, is a new fee in excess of $15,000 for council to conduct impact assessments on development applications for new apartments or retirement homes.

According to the council website, a surcharge of 0.52 per cent currently applies for residents using a MasterCard, Visa credit and debit card, or American Express card to pay rates bills.

But Budget documents show this surcharge will increase to 0.78 per cent in the next financial year – an increase of 0.26 percentage points, or 50 per cent of the current surcharge.

According to the council website, the card surcharge on an “average rate account” is currently $2.13. As of next month, this will become around $3.20.

Labor’s Opposition leader Jared Cassidy slammed the increase. Picture: Liam Kidston

More specifically, residents will now pay a $2.34 surcharge on a $300 rates bill instead of $1.56, $3.90 on a $500 bill instead of $2.60, and $6.24 on an $800 bill instead of $4.16.

The measure was highlighted by Brisbane City Council’s Labor opposition leader Jared Cassidy in his budget reply speech on Friday.

“Not only has the Lord Mayor announced a rates increase, he’s also going to charge an extra 50 per cent on credit card payments,” Cr Cassidy said.

“So every ratepayer who uses their credit or debit card up to four times a year to pay their rates will now cop an even bigger hit because of card payment charges.

“Last year, there were 224,000 card payments processed. No wonder he [the Lord Mayor] is increasing that fee. He sees it as a gold mine.

“[Cr] Schrinner said he’s keeping rates as low as he can … but what he doesn’t say is he’s stinging ratepayers and business owners through sneaky increases of fees and charges to keep revenue up.”

Cr Cassidy also pointed to what appears to be a new $15,618 impact assessment charge for proposed multiple dwelling developments, in this week’s Budget papers.

Council’s current development assessment fee schedule does not list a fee matching this “impact assessment for multiple dwellings” description.

The Budget documents list this fee as being applicable to apartments or units, a duplex, or a retirement facility.

Cr Cassidy slammed this measure as “driving up the cost of developing units in Brisbane”.

“So the Lord Mayor gives with one hand and takes with the other,” he said.

“The Lord Mayor made a big announcement about developer discounts for building units a few months ago.

“Why didn’t he make a big announcement about bringing in a brand-new development application charge worth a whopping $15,000 per development?

“Talk about a triumph of spin over substance.”

The LNP Council said its increased credit and debit card surcharge is in line with the merchant fees it is charged by the specified banking card providers.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the increase was in line with other SEQ councils. Picture: Richard Walker

The Schrinner administration added that its new impact assessment fee is either in line with, or less than, how much other SEQ councils charge – between $15,000 and $35,500.

Brisbane City Council’s civic cabinet finance chair Fiona Cunningham said the Council had “delivered a balanced budget with a sensible approach to spending”.

“The Schrinner Council has ensured Brisbane retains the cheapest residential rates for owner-occupiers in South East Queensland, while the Greens/Labor coalition of chaos would have delivered the biggest rates increase in our city’s history,” Cr Cunningham said.

“We are not going to be lectured about financial management by the Greens/Labor coalition of chaos which made $3.5bn worth of big-spending promises during the election but had no clue how to pay for them.

“The Greens/Labor’s reckless opposition to our sensible savings plan would have resulted in Brisbane residents being slugged with a 32.6 per cent rates increase from July 1.”