Pensioners 'forced to sell their homes' amid skyrocketing council rates

Other Dubbo Regional Council ratepayers had "had enough" too.

Ms Peppernell's Facebook page Residents of Dubbo Regional Council Discussion Group has attracted more than 4000 members.

The page is littered with stories of ratepayers frustrated by "opaque processes, inconsistent service delivery, and a lack of meaningful accountability".

"One resident pays a full amount of rates but has no sewerage system and no waste pick up," she said.

At the heart of the issue, she believes, is that many suspect regional NSW ratepayers are not getting bang for their buck, compared to their city counterparts.

"Metropolitan Sydney is paying less rates and getting more," she said.

Her council recently removed the bulky/hard waste collection, further incensing residents.

"Rates should not only pay for services but also invest in services," she said.

Rates on land in NSW are based on land values provided by the NSW Valuer-General.

Decisions about whether to apply the full rate peg approved by IPART to local rates are at the discretion of individual councils.

Of the 10 local government areas (LGAs) with the highest average council rates in 2023-2024, seven were regional LGAs.

While Hunters Hill on Sydney's lower north shore topped the list ($2,267.40), Cobar in central NSW came in second ($2,212.60).

The Southern Highlands Council of Wingecarribee( $1,992.70) and the Blue Mountains ($1,990.20) on the outskirts of Sydney also made the top five.

A spokesperson for the Office of Local Government told ACM the NSW Government was aware of the financial challenges councils were facing.

"In its recent response to a parliamentary inquiry into the financial sustainability of councils, the government outlined five key actions to help ensure councils are efficient and financially sustainable," the spokesperson said.

"The government will be developing the policy framework to implement these reforms and will undertake consultation with the sector via an Expert Advisory Panel."

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Combined Pensioners and Superannuats Association (CPSA) senior policy advisor Billy Pringle said many pensioners struggled to keep up as they face rising bills, including rates.

"As council rates in many LGAs continue to increase, many people will face the prospect of having to forego other essentials to afford their rates," he said.

"Some may even be forced to sell their homes and leave their communities and social networks."

A council rate rebate exists for pensioners funded by the state government and local council.

The rebate, currently up to $250 in some local government areas, was introduced in 1993 and has not been increased in the 32 years since.

Mr Pringle said the payment had "thoroughly failed to keep up with increases in the actual rates that people are paying".

He said the situation is often more dire in regional areas.

"In many regional and rural areas, councils will need to provide services across a bigger geographical area that is less densely populated and will often seek to set higher council rates to cover these costs," he said.

"We also know that people in these areas can often pay more for energy, water and insurance, so any increases to their council rates can add financial stress to an already tenuous situation."

Bega Valley Shire mayor and deputy chairman of the Country Mayors Association of NSW, Russell Fitzpatrick, said accusations of financial mismanagement by regional councils were unfounded.

He said regional councils had no choice but to increase rates.

"Rate pegging just doesn't work - especially for regional councils," he said.

"When you only get an increase of 4.7 per cent this year (it has been 1.7 in a past year) but the cost of actually delivering the services goes up by 20-30 per cent, obviously there is going to be a shortfall and councils are going to try and balance their budgets somehow."

He said regional councils have significantly fewer ratepayers than city councils, but they also have larger road networks and more operating costs due to transport costs.

"In some of our country Shires only 20 per cent of the land is rateable," he said. "It is National Parks, Crown Land or Forestry, we have less population, less ratepayers and a lot less income."

"At the same time, we have to provide three times as many roads as most city councils and in some cases ten times more roads and try and maintain them with rain events or weather events, and a lot more maintenance is required."

He said almost all regional and rural councils were reducing services because they didn't have the income to maintain what had been built or contribute to new, upgraded infrastructure and roads.

He said there was frustration at the methodology of the financial grants system, where there is a 30% per capita allocation (population basis), disadvantaging rural and regional councils.

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Mr Fitzpatrick urged the federal government and the NSW Grants Commission to address the inequity in the system.

"The most needy should receive them as per the Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation legislation," he said.

In recent decades, there has been a slow reduction in the proportion of total tax revenues going to local government.

Financial assistance grants have declined from 1 per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue in 1996 to just around 0.5 per cent today.

This is despite increased costs and expected service delivery from local governments.

A spokesperson for the Office of Local Government said while rural and remote councils housed around 35 per cent of the state's population, they typically receive approximately 75 per cent of Commonwealth funding.

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