Lismore flood victims left up in the air over rate relief

Lismore ratepayers promised water and rate relief will have to wait until next month’s council meeting. Find out why.

A push for rate and water charge relief for flood-stricken Lismore residents has sparked debate at Lismore City Council’s monthly meeting.

Promises of financial relief that were made in the early stages of flood clean-up are now in limbo as council wrestles with the legalities of delivering on their promise.

In council briefings a report was delivered by council’s financial officer John Hartley that suggested rate and water charge relief could be made via council’s Rates and Charges Hardship policy.

Lismore CBD cleanup after the second flood within a month on Monday April 4.

But the amendments required to create the rate relief via council policy are not supported by the local government act, council were advised.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg said he could not accept the recommendations to amend the policy as it was deemed unlawful.

Cr Big Rob challenged the decision stating the recommendations were based on the local government act and there was nothing unlawful about council being able to provide rate relief.

Big Rob.

“All this [policy] is doing is giving us more reasons for rate relief,” Cr Rob said. “Because what we have got in this business paper is interest … and we’ve also got in there to put interest at zero.”

Cr Rob said “our town is bleeding”.

“We don’t want to take more blood out of them.”

According to the motion, properties will still be rated and charged normally but if ratepayers cannot pay they can apply for hardship to have their bills waived.

A car is inundated by floodwater on March 30, 2022 in Lismore. (Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images)

Cr Rob said a “blanket rate relief” would be the only thing unlawful.

“This is not giving rate relief, it is giving an option to apply for rate relief, there’s a difference,” Cr Rob said.

Mr Krieg reiterated that he did not want to rule on the motion until council received further legal advice.

“We can defer it,” Mr Krieg said, “Which is an option until we get that legal advice but I’m not prepared to rule and let this through as the Mayor of this city until we know that it is lawful.”

Councillor Adam Guise said the council has done an “about-face” leading the community to believe they had rate and water charge relief when instead it only might be coming through an incumbent series of hoops and red tape.

“We got $20 million from the government,” he said, “They said that was unattached funding.”

“Now we expect 3,500 households and 3,800 businesses to go down this hardship process? It’s ludicrous.”

Mr Guise proposed council compose a zoning map overlay of flood affected properties which are rated as such that they pay only a token amount of rates or none at all.

“This is what we should be doing until those businesses are operational or they have some sort of guarantee from the government they’ll be looked after or can bail out and the same for our residents, until their houses are habitable again.

“We cannot be charging rates to businesses or residents who do not have safe houses to live in or workplaces to go to.

Mr Krieg said the $20 million was a grant that does have ties which council have only been made aware of.

“We are still lobbying very hard to the State government for rate relief,” Mr Krieg said, “But the bottom line is that we have got to do it legally.”