Canada Bay Council: Council set to apply for rate hikes despite cost of living pressures

A Sydney council is pushing ahead with rate increases which have been described as “excessive” and “over the top” in the face of fierce community opposition.

The City of Canada Bay comprises of inner city foreshore suburbs such as Drummoyne, pictured here.

Ratepayers across Canada Bay could be one step closer to seeing a hit to their hip pocket despite residents voicing their concerns about a lack of consultation and clarity over the proposal.

From Saturday, Canada Bay residents will not longer be able to lodge their submissions to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) regarding council’s plan to raise rates for the first time in 22 years.

This comes after the council previously voted to file a Special Rate Variation (SRV) request to IPART to raise ordinary rate income by a total cumulative increase of 19.78 per cent over a four-year period.

Overall, the total cumulative increase would be 32.5 per cent over the period, which includes IPART’s rate peg rise, forecasted to be 12.7 per cent across the next four years.

Council documents show, under the proposals, the minimum residential rate would increase by 15.5 per cent this year, and 8.4 per cent, 7.9 per cent and 7.6 per cent in each year thereafter.

Canada Bay residents could soon see their rates rise.

Canada Bay resident Ross Butler said a recent re-evaluation of his property saw his land value jump by 89 per cent which would only further increase the cost of his rates if IPART goes ahead with council’s submission.

“Ratepayers in Canada Bay are going to get hit by a double whammy — there could be a rate rise and then it’s going to be loaded onto ratepayers with all these new valuations,” Mr Butler said.

The LGA is home to a plethora of Sydney’s foreshore.

The retiree also said the rise “seems a bit over the top, given people’s budgets are a little bit stretched at the moment”.

“(The council) haven’t really specified projects, but just given some general outlines as to how they may spend the money,” he said.

“There’s people who are confused by it, some who aren’t sure of what the impact will be, and there’s a lot who just don’t even know about (the potential rate rise).”

Labor councillor Julia Little, who is running to represent Drummoyne in the upcoming state election, said she was disappointed in the lack of community consultation.

Labor's state candidate for Drummoyne Julia Little.

“The proposed rate hikes were unequivocally rejected by our community and yet the council refused to listen,” Ms Little said.

“Labor councillors have always rejected the rate hikes as excessive and we continue to stand with the community.”

In a statement, a Canada Bay Council spokesman said the increase would raise $8.28 million in revenue, designed to maintain the council’s level of service.

“The City of Canada Bay is a rare case in NSW — having never applied for a SRV until now,” he said.

“We are proud to have provided excellent services and infrastructure for our growing community over the past two decades without the need for a SRV, however significant past population growth and expanding future needs now require council to secure our future by applying for a SRV.”

The spokesman also said council had used a variety of communications platforms to ensure residents were aware of the proposed rate variation.