COUNCIL VOTES ON APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL RATE VARIATION

Griffith City Council has resolved to proceed with an application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for a permanent Special Rate Variation (SRV) of 10.5 per cent each year for three years – a cumulative permanent increase of 34.9 per cent.
The decision to make an application to IPART was made at the meeting on Tuesday 24 October 2023.
Griffith Mayor, Councillor Doug Curran said, the difficult decision was made recognising the community’s feedback while also trying to ensure Council’s financial future. Council’s General Fund has been adversely impacted by rising inflation, rate pegging, a decrease in Federal Assistance Grant funding, additional unfunded responsibilities and cost shifting by the NSW Government.
“I want to sincerely thank members of our community who took the time to provide Council with feedback during the consultation period,” said Councillor Curran.
“An increase in rates is never welcome news and not something that Council wants to be doing. However, it’s important to recognise that this SRV application is not the only action Council has considered to improve overall financial sustainability.
“If the application to IPART is successful, Council is committed to ensuring the continued provision of essential services. Additionally, we will be identifying annual savings of $1 million to help maintain financial viability.”
In considering feedback from the community consultation, Council endorsed additional measures to ensure adequate assistance is provided for ratepayers experiencing genuine financial hardship. These include a review of the Financial Hardship Policy, an increase in pensioner rebates on Ordinary Rates for the period of three-year implementation of the SRV and a cap on increases to Water and Sewer charges by the assumed 3% annual rate peg for the SRV implementation period.
Independent service reviews will also be undertaken for a number of Council services to explore productivity improvements and cost containment strategies.
During the consultation process, Council received more than 150 submissions from the community. Council now intends to formally submit an application to IPART by the end of January 2024 accompanied by a comprehensive report summarising the feedback received.
Community members will have additional opportunities to provide feedback directly to IPART as part of the application process and details on how to have your say can be found on their website at https://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/
IPART will then consider the application and feedback and provide a decision in May 2024. If Council’s application is approved, the rate increase will come into effect on 1 July 2024.
The SRV Community Engagement Summary, Engagement Plan and Submissions can be viewed on Council’s website griffith.nsw.gov.au