Mildura council proposed rate change could make your groceries more expensive

The price of the weekly shop could be about to go up again. Find out why.

Victorians could see the price of oranges and wine increase, if the state’s biggest council’s rates change push is successful.

Farmers in the state’s northwest could see rates increase by more than 13 per cent as Mildura council looks to change how it divides the rates “pie”.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Emma Germano said while it seemed like just one council, Mildura — the centre of Victoria’s food bowl and a major producer of citrus fruits and grapes — was “only the first cab off the rank”.

“This is something that we’ll see across the entire state, ” she said.

“If you hurt the viability of farmers, you’ll see less farmers which means that ... it becomes more expensive at the supermarket shelf.”

Mildura farmers could see a massive increase in rates as council proposes changes. Pictured: Dwarf almonds.

According to Mildura council, the average farmer will see an increase of $463 to their rates.

However, the VFF said the rise could be almost four times that.

“Most farmers have multiple assessments, so they pay for four or sometimes five assessments,” she said.

“The average farmer could see their rates go up by $1800.”

Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research director Abigail Payne said as the cost of living rose, families had to decide where to spend their money.

“Families are going to become more and more constrained as prices go up,” she said.

“So what I would be thinking about is what are the things you can’t change easily like rent or a mortgage.

“As prices go up and you don’t have the income to support that, you’re going to have to cut back.

“If prices keep going up around important things like food, you’ll see more families undergo what we call financial stress.”

Mildura council has put the proposed rates change — which would see residential property rates in the rural city drop by about 4.5 per cent while business and farming rates would increase by 3.5 per cent and 13.1 per cent respectively — out to public consultation.

Mayor Liam Wood said the change wasn’t about increasing the total value of rates collected.

“This isn’t about changing how much funding is generated through rates, which pays for the numerous services, facilities, public spaces, roads and other assets our community relies on daily,” Mr Wood said.

“It’s about potentially changing how the ‘rating pie’ is divided up across the different property types.”

More than a dozen different scenarios were initially considered during the revenue and rating plan review, but only two have been put out to public consultation.

The other option is to leave differential rates unchanged.

Mildura ratepayers can provide feedback at yoursay.mildura.vic.gov.au/RatingPlan