Rates on hold and rubbish costs up in council budget

By Sharon Webb

MOLE CREEK residents who resisted joining the Meander Valley Municipality’s wheelie bin collection service in March last year will be grinning while most other residents pay an extra $18 a year increase for kerbside rubbish collection.

The 2020-21 budget kept the council’s COVID-19 promises to not to increase rates, planning, building and licensing fees.

One of the few things left was rubbish collection fees, with a regular 140 litre bin increasing from $210 to $228, including the fixed charge of $56 a household which did not increase.

Mayor Wayne Johnston said waste continued to be ‘a challenging space’. ‘Due to market driven changes, the costs associated with recycling collection and processing have risen by over 70 per cent in the past two years and as a result kerbside collection charges have had to increase by a small margin,’ he said.

‘The council is continuing to be proactive in our response to this issue and as part of our annual plan we will undertake a review of waste management services to determine the best way to manage costs, meet service expectations and limit the level of waste going to landfill,’ he said.

The council has an operating budget of $21.5m, partly funded by a total of $13m in rates, $1.2m in fees and user charges, and grants and subsidies of $4.4m.

It will operate at a $2,064,800 deficit, caused mainly by its $1.7m COVID-19 package and loss of dividends from TasWater. Pre COVID-19 the council anticipated a $398,900 surplus.

In addition to adopting the 2020-21 budget, the council also approved its annual capital works program, providing for $11.5m in infrastructure projects.

Road and bridges account for $5 million of the overall spend, with investment in recreation facilities at Prospect Vale, Hadspen and Deloraine.

Cllr Johnston said the council had been conscious of keeping costs of living down. Meander Valley’s residential rates are lower than all northern neighbouring municipalities, and primary production property rates are lower than all neighbours except for Northern Midlands.

‘Despite increases to our operational costs, we have fully funded our COVID-19 Community and Business Support Package, maintained capacity for capital works projects and service delivery and continue to have the lowest General Rate in Northern Tasmania,’ he said.

‘We are budgeting for an operating loss for 2020-21 which cannot be sustained in the long term, but consider this an appropriate measure given the difficult position many in our community find themselves.’