Council seeks extra rate rise for 'financial sustainability'

MANAGING and renewing infrastructure will require extra revenue, the council's GM said.

Richmond Valley Council's GM says keeping roads in top condition are part of the reason for a special rate variation request. Picture: Darryn Smith

RICHMOND Valley Council has asked for permission to implement a special rate increase.

The council is one of 13 across NSW to ask the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for such a change, and has requested a cumulative rates increase of 23.9 per cent over four years.

The council's general manager Vaughan Macdonald said while they had been successful at attracting grant funding, for example for the saleyards in Casino and the drill hall upgrades, they needed a boost to renew and maintain assets.

"It comes down to the financial sustainability of the council," Mr Macdonald said.

"The other challenge we have is with depreciation... which is putting money away to invest in infrastructure in the future."

Mr Macdonald said the council had been consulting with the community since the start of December.

While the general consensus opposed the rate rise, Mr Macdonald said this process was an opportunity to explain their intentions to ratepayers.

"It was a good opportunity for us to have a detailed discussion," he said.

"It is hard (to convince people) but I think for the Richmond Valley, we're fortunate with our road system.

"When we compare it to other council areas on the Northern Rivers, we're proud of ours.

"We want to continue to maintain them to that level, we don't want them to deteriorate."

The council held community meetings in Casino on February 4 and Evans Head on February 6.

No community members supported a special variation above the rate peg.

Across NSW, the amount a council can raise rates and charges each year is limited by the rate peg, which is determined on an annual basis.

IPART has set the peg for the 2019-20 financial year at 2.7%, up from 2.3% this financial year.

Councils requiring extra revenue can apply to IPART for a permanent or temporary increase.

Richmond Valley Council is the only Northern Rivers council to have applied for the special variation.

IPART Chair Dr Paul Paterson said IPART would determine all such applications by mid-May.

"We will assess each application against the criteria established by the Office of Local Government in its guidelines for special variations, with councils required to demonstrate the need for and the purpose of the additional revenue, evidence of community consultation and an assessment of the impact on affected ratepayers," Dr Paterson said.

"As councils must engage with the community when assessing options for a special variation, we expect councils will have already sought and considered the community's views on the proposed special variation.

"Community members wishing to make submissions directly to IPART can do so until 14 March 2019, and we will consider these submissions as part of our determination."

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