At next week's Council Meeting, Alpine Shire Council will discuss applying to the Essential Services Commission (ESC) for a higher rate cap for 2025/26 to introduce a cost-neutral revenue change for ratepayers.
The potential need for a higher rate increase is due to a change made by the Minister for Local Government to the Minister's Good Practice Guidelines for Local Government Services Rates and Charges in December 2023.
Council Chief Executive Officer (CEO), William Jeremy, said the Minister's guidelines advised that it's "not good practice" to include costs for public litter collection and bins in the waste management charge, as this fee is based on property value, not the actual service cost.
"Council currently collects a separate General Waste Charge on our rates notice, with up to $350K spent directly on managing public place waste per annum," Mr Jeremy said.
"In order to follow the Ministerial guidelines, we have three options: to apply for a higher rate cap to shift costs from the waste charge to rates; absorb the public waste costs into the budget; or review our delivery of public waste services to reduce costs."
Mr Jeremy said applying for a one off higher rate cap would result in a cost neutral impact on ratepayers while maintaining service delivery, and is therefore the recommendation that will be put forward to Council at the January meeting.
"Absorbing the costs associated with public waste management would result in approximately $350k of lost revenue annually," he said.
"This revenue loss, if absorbed, has the potential to impact service delivery into the future."
A decision to proceed with the application would not bind Council to adopting that cap when setting the Rates and Charges, and community engagement will be undertaken as part of the 2025/26 Budget process.
What is a rate cap?
The State Government caps rates increases under the Fair Go Rates System, which allows local governments to raise rates only in line with the cap set by the Minister.
The rate cap limits the maximum amount a council can increase general rates and municipal charges.
The cap for 2025/26 has been set at 3.0%.
If the rate cap does not meet a council’s needs, the council can submit a higher rate cap application to be allowed to set a higher rate for up to four years.
Oversight of the rate cap, and applications for a higher rate, are managed by the Essential Services Commission (ESC).
For more information about Council's rates, visit www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/residents-ratepayers/rates-property/calculation-rates