Yarra city council includes extra bin tax in budget plans

FAMILIES face being slugged with a $247 tax to have rubbish collected in a controversial council cash grab after the Yarra city council included the annual bin levy in its budget plans.

Families face being slugged with a $247 tax to have rubbish collected in a controversial council cash grab.

FAMILIES face being slugged with a $247 tax to have rubbish collected in a controversial council cash grab.

The Greens-dominated Yarra city council has included the annual bin levy in its budget plans.

Now it is feared residents and businesses in other suburbs will also face bin taxes, on top of annual rates.

Householders and businesses in Yarra, which includes Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy, face paying $247.50 for collection of a standard 120-litre bin, $800 for a 240-litre bin, and $164 for an 80-litre bin.

The council is expected to push through the bin levy in June, even though it stands to rake in an extra $11 million in rates next year owing to a boom in development.

Levy opponent and Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly said council was using rates and other charges to pay for a “bloated bureaucracy”, saying: “When the highest rates in Victoria aren’t enough for them, they introduce a bin tax and slash services.”

“The Greens and Labor councillors have let this happen. Locals have had enough,” Cr Jolly said.

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Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly. Picture: Kris Reichl

Yarra council spent $500,000 plus on an anti-East West Link campaign, including $405,000 for legal representation at hearings.

Its other spending has included $500,000 for a “culturally themed” gateway at the Asian precinct in Victoria St, Richmond. And in 2015 it spent about $23,000 to paint a Cremorne laneway so motorists would know it was not a “typical road”.

Ratepayers Association vice-president Jack Davis said more councils were now likely to introduce a bin levy as a way to dodge a government-imposed rate rise cap of 2 per cent.

“We know councils will be doing more and more of these special charge schemes to get around rate capping, and (we) hope that (the) new Local Government Act puts some restraints on them,’’ he said.

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Ratepayers Victoria vice-president Jack Davis says more councils are now likely to introduce a bin levy. Picture: Nathan Dyer

Yarra mayor Amanda Stone, a Greens councillor, said the levy was needed to avoid cuts to services.

It included weekly rubbish collections, recycling, and green waste and hard-rubbish pick-ups, she said.

“The rate cap imposed by the state government doesn’t cover the cost of regular services, and we may have to cut services,’’ Cr Stone said.

“Rubbish costs that the council pays are increasing by 6 per cent every year.’’

Yarra mayor Amanda Stone. Picture: supplied.

The draft budget shows council expects to deliver a $15 million surplus next financial year, pumped up by $8 million from the bin tax.

Yarra’s average rates bill is almost $1550, but a high level of public housing may distort that figure; private households pay much more.

Though a rates cap has been imposed, recent property revaluations have pushed rates up further. Cr Stone said that most Victorian councils had a waste service charge of some form.

But Cr Jolly said other councils with a waste charge did not have Yarra’s high rates.

“And it’s not a progressive tax. Everyone pays the same, including older residents who moved to the area when they were working-class suburbs.”

The Herald Sun believes Yarra’s administration has been preparing special “messaging” for councillors to respond to expected opposition.

Though council still owns three town halls, it went into $19 million debt three years ago to buy a Bridge Rd building for its offices. And according to the Know Your Council website, which assesses councils’ performance, its staff turnover is higher than average.

The bin tax recommendation will be put on June 6.

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