IT’S the right idea at the wrong time.
After seven consecutive years of councillors ignoring pleas to reject maximum rate rises, it’s in 2023 they finally decide to do so.
Why now?
Inflation was most recently at 7 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank, and in the previous two quarters it was 7.3 and 7.8 per cent.
That tells us costs for everyone – residents, business owners and, yes, councils – are going up a heck of a lot steeper than 3.5 per cent, the upper limit prescribed this year.
A 3.5 per cent increase, after 1.75 per cent the previous year, already forced the council into frugal decision-making.
It already gave ratepayers a degree of comfort, too, because rates bills wouldn’t be going up by as much as trips to the supermarket.
Given previous capped rises didn’t exceed 2.5 per cent, this largely wasn’t true in past years.
Councillors who supported a 3 per cent rise correctly noted there are people in the community who are doing it tough. That should absolutely be considered.
However, having been around for many council budgets, the public outcry this year was well short of many, if not all, previous rises matching the cap.
READ MORE: WHY COUNCIL MADE IT’S CALL, THE CASES MADE BY COUNCILLORS, THE RAMIFICATIONS
The Sunraysia Daily letters page hasn’t been flooded with complaints.
Residents were so blown away by Thursday’s vote that a Daily Facebook post reporting it attracted just one “like” by Friday afternoon. And an “angry” reaction, for good measure.
Councillor Stefano de Pieri denied the 11th-hour motion was “a populist thing”. He may be right – if only for a lack of documented popularity.
Yes, interest-rate hikes are hurting, but this isn’t a reason to go lower than other parts of the state.
Mildura’s median mortgage repayments were 31 per cent below the Victorian average, according to the 2021 Census.
At that time, 9.2 per cent of mortgage payers spent more than 30 per cent of household income on repayments, compared to 15.5 per cent across the whole state.
Trying to wrestle down Mildura’s high rates is absolutely a worthwhile goal for councillors – if done in an economically prudent way.
A rates rise 4 per cent below an inflation rate so stubborn our central bankers are sweating spreadsheets, which also risks a $1 million-plus deficit a year from now, seems at odds with that.
So, back to the question: why now?
It’s 2023. Next year is 2024, a council election year.
You’d really hope that this wasn’t simply a way for rates-busting credentials to be shored up before votes are being mulled.
