Pensioner calls for fixed 17% rates rebate to ease SRV pain

Rates rebates for pensioners have remained the same for decades and are losing their effectiveness. A South Grafton pensioner has a plan to change this.

DOING IT TOUGH: South Grafton pensioner Alan Ryan with paperwork he has sent to the council and the NSW Government. Picture: Tim Howard

PENSIONERS need to find a new way of getting rates relief if the Clarence Valley Council's application for a special rates variation succeeds, a South Grafton man says.

Retired railway engine driver Alan Ryan said the pensioner rebate, which has remained fixed at $250 a year plus $87.50 each for water and sewerage since its introduction in the 1990s, is rapidly losing its effectiveness for pensioners whose incomes have not increased at a similar pace as rates.

"It's been stuck at $425 for years, while each year the rates have risen," Mr Ryan said.

"If they're going to go up by 8 per cent a year over the next three years, it's not going to be viable for pensioners."

Instead Mr Ryan has come up with a plan for the council to set the rebate at 17 per cent of the total rates bill to ensure the rate rebate keeps pace with increases.

"The pensioners, especially the age pensioners, are doing it tough in this electorate," Mr Ryan said.

"The only way they would agree to the SRV is if the 17 per cent rebate is adopted and I think that would be the sentiment of all pensioners."

There was agreement at the council that the rates rebate had not kept pace with cost of living expenses, but a spokesman said the council could not adopt Mr Ryan's proposal.

"The way the council fixes its rates is determined in the Local Government Act," he said.

Mr Ryan has taken up the issue with the Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, who passed on his letter to Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton.

Mr Gulaptis was sympathetic to Mr Ryan's proposal.

"I understand the level of pensioner concession has remained static for a number of years and does not increase with inflation or in line with rate increases, so I appreciate the logic of your proposal," he said.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Scot MacDonald, replied for the Minister earlier this year.

He said the original rebate had been a combined federal and state government deal.

"After the Commonwealth withdrew its concession in the 2014-15 Federal Budget, the NSW Government stepped in and covered the shortfall for pensioners for 12 months to June 2015," he said. "This support has been extended."

Mr MacDonald said the council had the discretion to provide further concession above the maximum concession for pensioners.

"The cost of providing further concessions must be met entirely by the council," he said.

Mr Ryan said if he had applied his calculation on his last rates notice it would have given him a rebate of about $430.

"It's not much better than what I've paid this year, but if my rates go up by 8 per cent each year and the increase stays, a lot of aged pensioners are not going to afford to pay those sorts of rates," Mr Ryan said.

Originally published as Pensioner calls for fixed 17% rates rebate to ease SRV pain