Wollongong residents owe their cash-strapped council a hefty $7.5 million in overdue rates, according to information provided to the Mercury.
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According to council figures as of July 1, Wollongong City Council ratepayers have an overdue bill totalling more than $9.5 million - including more than $2 million owed from businesses, mining companies and farms.
This represents 5.7 per cent of the total rates charged.
According to the council's breakdown of how much money is owed in each suburb, the tardiest ratepayers live in Dapto, owing a collective $507,856 to the council.
The bills for Berkeley and Woonona add up to more than $400,000 for each suburb, and Wollongong and Kanahooka residents owe upward of $300,000.
And, according to a rates notice obtained by the Mercury, one ratepayer in Coledale owes more than $37,000.
Based on today's rates for that home, this represents more than 24 years of overdue charges.
The city's rates bill also includes $2.2 million owed by pensioners, which the council's finance manager, Brian Jenkins, said were not subject to the usual legal recovery processes.
"We have a policy for pensioners which says we won't commence legal action against them," he said.
"This effectively means pensioners can choose not to pay their rates - although they still pay interest on their account - and basically use that like a reverse mortgage.
"But a rate debt is what you call a debt on the land, so it's always recoverable. When they decide to transfer their house or someone is doing that for their estate, then the rates are paid at that time."
He said the Coledale ratepayer owing more than $37,000 could be a pensioner choosing not to pay their rates, or may be simply unknown to the council and therefore not able to be subject to legal action.
The rates notice for the house is simply addressed to "the occupier".
Despite the city's seemingly high overdue rates bill, Mr Jenkins said the 5.7 per cent outstanding was on par with other similar councils and only just above the industry target of 5 per cent in unpaid rates.
"That usually stays fairly steady over the years, although over the last couple of years we've had a little bit of an increase in the amount outstanding and then this year we've had quite a significant decrease," he said.
"We have been working fairly hard on making sure our rates recovery processes work and that the letters are going out and being effective, and that we're having that communication with our customers."
Mr Jenkins said having millions of dollars in unpaid rates did not affect the council's overall revenue as all charges were paid eventually through land sales.
He also said the council's 8.5 per cent interest charges on unpaid rates provided "a fairly significant disincentive" to not pay rates on time.
"Our main concern is that if people get themselves too far down that path, then it's very hard for them to recover," Mr Jenkins said.
"We try pretty hard to keep in contact with those customers and we have hardship policies if they can't pay."
Outstanding rates by suburb
suburb | rates owing*
- Dapto $507,856
- Berkeley $436,333
- Woonona $401,723
- Wollongong $376,026
- Kanahooka $334,200
- Figtree $297,588
- Horsley $292,420
- Corrimal $238,901
- Koonawarra $220,727
- Bulli $210,818
- Unanderra $202,370
- Helensburgh $193,677
- Fairy Meadow $192,634
- Thirroul $185,506
- Port Kembla $184,643
- Warrawong $181,494
- West Wollongong $175,204
- Towradgi $166,674
- Austinmer $165,430
- Bellambi $162,280
- Balgownie $158,010
- Cringila $151,713
- Lake Heights $148,552
- Coledale $128,681
- Primbee $117,901
- Cordeaux Heights $115,956
- Farmborough Heights $113,079
- Mount Kembla $110,082
- Wombarra $103,739
- Mount Saint Thomas $94,607
- Mount Keira $93,667
- East Corrimal $84,266
- Mangerton $83,418
- North Wollongong $80,044
- Tarrawanna $71,121
- Keiraville $69,762
- Gwynneville $67,306
- Windang $66,842
- Coniston $65,952
- Penrose $62,684
- Stanwell Park $55,918
- Russell Vale $53,777
- Scarborough $43,016
- Mount Ousley $42,855
- Kembla Grange $32,587
- Mount Pleasant $31,182
- Stanwell Tops $26,088
- Otford $25,599
- Brownsville $24,643
- Huntley $21,346
- Fernhill $18,686
- Haywards Bay $18,210
- Yallah $12,913
- Avondale $8841
- Maddens Plains $7787
- Clifton $2290
- Lilyvale $1559
- Coalcliff $1382
- Wongawilli $1200
- Marshall Mount $709
- Darkes Forest $326
- Kembla Heights $92
- Cleveland $33
TOTAL $7,544,933
*at July 1
Source: Wollongong City Council