Local Council Rates
Background: The West Australian contacted the City of South Perth in regards to comments made by Premier Collin Barnett on the subject of council rates. The Premier made the assertion that smaller councils mean higher rates.
Please attribute the following comments to City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty
The Premier has provided no empirical evidence supporting his view that planned reform will lead to lower rates. Two of the reasons why rates have increased this year above CPI directly relate to the impact of State Government decisions on Local Government, for example, the State Government initially deciding to fund costs associated with the local government reform process.
The government has now reneged on this position and has only allocated a paltry amount leaving local government to fund the lion's share of the reform costs. In the case of the City of South Perth, Council has already allocated $1M towards reform costs that it did not expect to allocate.
In addition, the State Government continues to slug local government with high increases in waste management levies and state utility charges. Even higher increases are anticipated next financial year when the government has already announced that it plans to increase street lighting costs by a whopping 37%. This increase alone will cost local government many millions of dollars that cannot be justified.
The increase in rates this financial year on average amounts to roughly $1.50/week. This is not excessive given the wide and diverse range of services and facilities that local government provides.
Please attribute the following comments to City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty
The Premier has provided no empirical evidence supporting his view that planned reform will lead to lower rates. Two of the reasons why rates have increased this year above CPI directly relate to the impact of State Government decisions on Local Government, for example, the State Government initially deciding to fund costs associated with the local government reform process.
The government has now reneged on this position and has only allocated a paltry amount leaving local government to fund the lion's share of the reform costs. In the case of the City of South Perth, Council has already allocated $1M towards reform costs that it did not expect to allocate.
In addition, the State Government continues to slug local government with high increases in waste management levies and state utility charges. Even higher increases are anticipated next financial year when the government has already announced that it plans to increase street lighting costs by a whopping 37%. This increase alone will cost local government many millions of dollars that cannot be justified.
The increase in rates this financial year on average amounts to roughly $1.50/week. This is not excessive given the wide and diverse range of services and facilities that local government provides.
Media contact
For media enquiries, please contact the City’s Communications Officer.
- Phone 9474 0777
- Email media@southperth.wa.gov.au
