Rates payments and financial hardship

Media Response 2 August 2018

Journalist’s background: I’m working on a story about the number of people in Perth having trouble paying their rates. I understand that some WA councils have hardship policies in place that allow ratepayers to apply for either a discount to rates or to come up with an alternative payment schedule so I’m putting in queries to all the metropolitan councils to try to build a picture about how widespread these policies are and how many ratepayers use them. 

Questions

  • Does the council have a hardship policy?
  • If so, what is it?
  • How many requests were received under that hardship policy in the most recent financial year (2016-17)?
  • By comparison how many were received 5 years ago (2011-12)?

Please attribute the following quotes to City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty.

The City of South Perth does not have a ‘Hardship Policy’, however the City understands that sometimes people experience financial hardship which makes it difficult to meet all financial commitments when they are due. 

The City is happy to work with ratepayers to develop a mutually acceptable payment arrangement. Ratepayers wishing to do so can contact the City's Rates Officers to discuss their options. They will be asked to complete a Rates Payment Arrangement Application and submit this to the City before the special arrangement can be approved.
 
Last Financial Year 2017/18, the City received 18 requests for Special Payment Arrangement, which is usually due to financial circumstances. 

Media contact

For media enquiries, please contact the City’s Communications Officer.