As rate notices are mailed out for the start of the new financial year, Wollongong and Shellharbour homeowners will once again see a greater than usual jump in their council contributions.
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Despite a pending merger, both councils survived long enough to this week adopt their 2016/17 budgets.
For the two councils, these included the final year of their Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal approved extra rate rises, which were designed to get their infrastructure backlogs under control.
In Wollongong this financial year, individual property rates will rise on average by 6.63 per cent compared to 2015/16, while in Shellharbour they’ll rise by 10 per cent.
Two Wollongong business rate categories – Business 3c Regional and Heavy 1 Activity 1 – will only increase by the standard three per cent.
Shellharbour mayor Marianne Saliba was pleased to deliver a fifth council budget, and noted that her council’s legal action, which has put off the NSW Government’s merger plans, had allowed time for both councils to adopt budgets.
“It doesn’t really matter if the merger goes ahead or not, the fact that the two entities have budgets in place and have plans, that will only be helpful,” Cr Saliba said.
“We have set our budget based on our strategic plans and our longer term plans, and they are to meet the needs of our community.”
“I’m most proud of the fact that we as a community have been able to look at our ageing assets and infrastructure, and through our special rate variation have made a commitment to upgrading that infrastructure.”
Should the merger go ahead, the government has said rates would stay “on their current trajectory” for four years.