Blacktown Council unveils plan to hike rates to avoid financial blackhole

Blacktown, the state’s most populous council, has unveiled a plan to hike rates to avoid a looming $700m blackhole.

The state’s largest council will jack up rates for a year by at least $170 in a bid to address a financial black hole threatening to blow out to more than $700 million within a decade.

Blacktown City Council will apply for a special rate variation (SRV) in 2026/2027, which – combined with the regular rate increase – would cost residents paying the minimum residential rate an extra $3.29 per week, or $171 annually.

A separate SRV would be levelled against businesses, with the 2026/2027 rate an increase of 15 per cent, followed by 8.5 per cent in 2027/2028.

Mayor Brad Bunting told The Telegraph the temporary increases would be aimed at raising an additional $49 million over three years in a bid to address groaning cost pressures arising from infrastructure and staffing demands.

Mr Bunting said Blacktown’s booming population – forecast to grow to more than 600,000 by 2040 from 450,000 currently – as well as increased staffing requirements and a ballooning list of assets which required upkeep were behind the move.

Deputy mayor Bob Fitzgerald (left) and Mayor Brad Bunting. Picture: Blacktown Council

“We have to keep doing more and more, with what we always had – we never had an IT department in the 1970s, but now we need to make sure our residents’ data can be kept and not hacked … we’ve got pressure on us to put more staff on and deliver more for our residents,” Mr Bunting said.

A backlog of renewal work required on roads, community halls, playgrounds and other council assets has already hit $108m.

“We’ve got 1500km of local roads … if you stretched it straight from Blacktown, it’d reach Airlie Beach (in north Queensland) … We have 2000km of footpaths … We have to maintain that and doing that’s getting more difficult.”

Mr Bunting added cost-shifting from state and federal governments had placed further pressure on councils’ finances.

“This isn’t that we’ve mismanaged (funds), there’s not a swimming pool that’s got out of control – we have a good track record on delivering good community infrastructure. It’s something we don’t do lightly, it’s something where we look to save funds wherever we can – it’s a necessary step to provide facilities (ratepayers) deserve,” he said.

Mr Bunting added said seven new council-run buildings, construction of which was funded by the NSW Government, would now cost the council $28 million annually to run.

Mr Bunting has taken two overseas trips during his tenure as Mayor, both times to Blacktown’s sister city of Porirua in New Zealand, with the total cost of the visits to ratepayers less than $8,000.

Pressure on councils has resulted in many applying for SRVs, with North Sydney Council – who have been struck by a $60m blowout in the redevelopment of North Sydney Pool – earlier this year having their application for an almost 90 per cent rise knocked back.

The council will only be allowed to increase rates by four per cent.

Blacktown’s rise will equate to about five per cent.

Northern Beaches Council rates will jump by 12.1 per cent this year, while Gunnedah’s will jump by 14.95.

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