Wollongong City Council is raising its fees on everything - swimming pools, rubbish tips, graveyards, brothels and more - in a mammoth revenue-raising exercise aimed at clawing itself out of debt.
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A death tax, a sex tax and an entertainment tax are among a swag of new charges being proposed, which come on top of a 5.7 per cent rate rise for the 2008-09 financial year.
Residents will be hit in every area of service delivery including libraries, hall hire, parking, caravan rentals and more.
A new 1 per cent credit card tax will be added to all council bills, athletics centre entry fees will jump by 10 per cent across the board, council car parks will cost an extra $4, functions for Gleniffer Brae Manor House will jump from $1045 to $1255 and a new $60 surcharge will be added to weddings held at the Wollongong Botanic Garden rose garden.
A 12-month membership to Beaton Park Leisure Centre will rise from $698 to $768; membership for the Wollongong District Tennis Association will jump from $5.30 to $30; a 12-month child-minding subscription at Lakeside Leisure Centre will increase from $84 to $100 and a new $32 hourly rate will be added to functions at some community halls.
Plots at Scarborough Cemetery will cost $5100 and a new $300 inspection fee will be applied to sex premises.
Entertainment venues have been targeted with a slew of new charges including a $196 inspection fee, a $334 development fee and a $530 compliance fee.
Wollongong general manager David Farmer flagged the increases early in the month commenting that the council needed to examine everything as part of a strategy aimed at turning its potential $15 million deficit into a $2.4 million surplus by 2013.
Yesterday, finance manager Brian Jenkins said the council was raising the fees so it didn't have to raise rates.
"The payment of fees and charges for services used by individuals - for example tourist parks - reduces the need for general rates to fund these services," he said.
"Commercial fees have dropped below market value over a number years and while specific increases have been included ... an across-the-board increase of 6 per cent on other commercial activities has been proposed to reduce the pricing gap with the rest of the market."
Former Ward 1 councillor Alice Cartan said she understood the council's justification behind increasing fees, but believes it may have gone too far.
"I'm not against them raising the charges - we would have had to do the same ... but we would have gone about it a bit more gently," she said.
For more information or to comment on the new fees visit www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au.
