Pocket pain: Brisbane rates up, no big cash splash in Council Budget
Brisbane’s rates are going up again with Adrian Schrinner blaming the State Government for starving councils while it wallows in coal royalties. SEARCH YOUR SUBURB
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Brisbane owner-occupiers will have to find an extra $100 a year after Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner revealed average owner-occupier rates will go up 3.8 per cent in a no-frills 2024 Budget he campaigned on during the March election.
Fees and charges would also rise by 3.8 per cent.
The general rates hike was higher than last year’s 3.45 per cent rise but lower than the monster 4.93 in 2022, the steepest increase in a decade.
The average rates bill last year was about $1800.
This year’s general Brisbane rates rise was also significantly lower than on the Gold Coast where Mayor Tom Tate last week unveiled a hefty 4.2 per cent hike.
The hardest hit suburb was Lake Manchester in Brisbane’s southwest where rates would go up by 7.5 per cent, the maximum, to $1487. That was a rise of $118.
Pinjarra Hills (up 7.3 per cent), Anstead (7.23 per cent), Pullenvale (7.13 per cent) and Kenmore Hills (7.09 per cent) were also at the top of the pile.
At the other end, owner occupiers at Cowan Cowan on Moreton Island were the only residents set to enjoy a drop in rates, pocketing $68 (a drop of 0.09 per cent).
Red Hill’s rates would also barely move, going up 0.09 per cent or $56 to $2255.
Cr Schrinner said while the State Government was raking in billions in coal royalties, Council was battling massive rises in its cost of doing business.
At the same time, contributions from the government had barely risen in years.
He also revealed a crackdown on short stay accommodation providers, with more than 400 in low-density suburban areas likely to have to stop short rentals.
And all property owners would now need a permit and be able to show they had proper planning approval.
He said without major savings initiatives, including deferring borrowings, rates would have risen by 32.6 per cent.
Instead, Brisbane last year had the lowest general rates in southeast Queensland and this year’s increase was on par with the consumer price index.
“Our focus will be on responsible management, on not spending what we can’t afford but still meeting the challenges of growth,’’ he said during the release of this year’s $4 billion budget on Wednesday morning, June 12.
“This Budget is a balanced Budget, it’s a Budget that keeps rates as low as possible.’’
Among the few major spending initiatives was on the Metro, with $248 million set aside this year plus preliminary planning for a charging station along Gympie Rd, extending its reach to the northside.
There would also be $70 million to finish the mammoth Moggill Rd corridor upgrade in Indooroopilly and completion of the landmark Kangaroo Point green bridge, plus $28.5 million for the Beams Rd upgrade and $6 million for the Lindum Rd upgrade.
“Most excitingly for me this is the Budget which will see Metro commence, the Kangaroo Point green bridge open and the Moggill Rd upgrade finished,’’ Cr Schrinner said.
Cr Schrinner said a northside extension of the Metro would dovetail well with the state’s Northern Transitway, where work recently wrapped up after its scope was wound back.
He said it would also work well with any northside tunnel, a project which received limited preliminary funding in this week’s state Budget.
But he said it was unfair Council was footing the bill for Metro when the state would get the estimated $800 million in fares over the coming decade.
Council was now in talks with the state about using some of that fare venue to reimburse Council for the cost of building Metro.
He made no commitment to two other green bridges “paused’’ in last year’s cost-cutting Budget but said he remained committed to them and would keep asking the state to help fund them.
He also said the Victoria Park Transformation planning remained on track and an application for funding was currently being assessed as part of the Southeast City Deal program.
Cr Schrinner said he was also very proud that this year 89 per cent of spending would be in the suburbs, up from a commitment he made several years ago for a minimum of 90 per cent.
Finance Chair Fiona Cunningham said overall local government costs had surged 17 per cent, with building construction costs up 31 per cent and road and bridge works now costing 22 per cent more.
“The Local Government Association of Queensland’s cost index is up 3.9 per cent in the past 12 months, while other levels of government rake in cash from their several revenue sources,’’ Cr Cunningham said.
“Local government tax revenue is only 2.9 per cent of the total tax take.
“At Brisbane City Council in particular we seem to be hit harder than others.’’
She said an analysis of state and federal allocations to southeast Queensland councils since about 2020 revealed people in Logan, Ipswich and the Gold Coast had received two to almost three times as much as those in Brisbane.
“The growth in funding is anaemic at best. We accept smaller regional councils need more assistance but the level of disparity is without justification and it’s getting worse,’’ Cr Cunningham said.
She said councils meanwhile were being asked to take on more responsibilities, including fire ant controls from July 1. Council now even had to inspect Botox clinics to ensure they met state rules.
Despite the challenges, Cr Cunningham said $60 on-time rates payment discounts would continue, as would pensioner rates rebates and concessions.
Not-for-profit kindies and 309 other not-for-profits would enjoy rates discounts of 100 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.
In other cost of living measures, green bin charges would be kept at less than $1 per week, off-peak public transport for seniors would still be free and the popular $2 Summer Dips subsidised public pool entry program would be back this summer, in line with a key election promise.
Two unexpected, big changes were to food recycling and short stay accommodation.
Cr Schrinner said the cost of permits had yet to be worked out and public consultation and drafting of new laws still had to occur.
A food recycling trial involving about 13,000 households would stop from July 1 due to huge costs and poor uptake. A similar program was a key Labor election promise.
Cr Schrinner said he was surprised by the poor uptake and said the huge extra costs were because food waste had to be processed in enclosed spaces so it simply was not economic.
Council would also move to bolster its powers over people renting out their units and houses for short stay accommodation, with 424 properties identified in low-density suburbs which were likely to be banned from short term rentals.
Owners would have to obtain a Council permit and prove they had planning approval, as well as a property manager available 24 hours a day and a code of conduct for guests.
Cr Cunningham said Council would push the State Government for a statewide register of properties and changes to its laws to allow body corporates to limit or ban short stay rentals.
Among the key traffic initiatives was $15 million for artificial intelligence-assistance traffic management systems.
Parks and the environment, the second-biggest area of spending, would receive a boost this year with the start of 20-year masterplans for the Wynnum, Manly and Lota foreshore as well as Kedron Brook, which would become more flood resilient and more pleasant for recreational users.
Council previously announced the relaxation of minimum parking provisions for new highrise projects in four inner-city suburbs.
It claimed the measure could shave up to $100,000 off the price of units in a major win for affordability, although at least one university planning expert predicted developers would simply pocket the extra profits.
Cr Cunningham said it would also audit residential homes being converted into business on busy roads and said in some areas that had been occurring even where there were commercial rental vacancies.
She said the measures, in combination, would deliver a balanced Budget and retain council’s strong credit rating while delivering $977 million in infrastructure.
Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy described the rate rise as the “result of years of financial mismanagement by Adrian Schrinner’’.
“Expenditure is down more than $480 million, meaning we’ll see more cuts,’’ Cr Cassidy said. “Spending on advertising, consultancies, project blow-outs and overseas travel has been out of control since the Lord Mayor took office in 2019.
“People will pay more in rates but get even less under the LNP.
“Today, (Adrian) Schrinner blamed everyone but himself.
“When you look beyond the spin, you see that rates revenue is up $83,460,000 (5.8 per cent) and fees and charges are up $23,367,000 (10 per cent), but there’s hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts last year.’’
He claimed public transport infrastructure spending was down 33 per cent, road infrastructure funding was down 39 per cent, sustainable city funding down by one-third and lifestyle funding had been cut 14 per cent.
“This Council budget comes at a time of delayed projects, cost escalations on inner-city projects and reduced services in the suburbs of Brisbane,’’ Cr Cassidy said.
“This Budget paints a bleak picture for our city. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, housing crisis and a congestion crisis.’’
Independent Councillor for Tennyson ward, Nicole Johnston, blasted the Budget and said average rate rises masked big increases in some suburbs.
“The Lord Mayor’s Budget is an unaccountable fairytale that for the first time ever does not include a breakdown of funding by programme or project. It’s just one giant LNP slush fund,” Cr Johnston said.
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