The possible appointment of a council rates watchdog is set to be considered by Tasmania’s peak local government body.
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Rates levels vary wildly between Tasmanian councils, and the Burnie City Council says an independent regulator “would allow for statewide consistency in the setting of rates, fees and charges”.
Burnie has a motion on the Local Government Association of Tasmania’s July general meeting agenda that LGAT write to Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein seeking an investigation into the merits of introducing a regulator of council rates, fees and charges which would also oversee estimates of capital works budgets.
Burnie recently cut its rates by 1 per cent, and aims to do likewise in each of the next four years.
In comments accompanying its LGAT motion, Burnie suggested councils should be able to argue that “disability factors of individual municipalities” be taken into account by the regulator when it considered levels of rates, fees and charges.
It said a regulator would also highlight long-term issues, such as where councils were not maintaining infrastructure.
It said governments imposed rate rise capping in parts of Australia and the proposal gave local government a chance to be involved in an investigation with the Minister “before it is imposed on the sector”.
LGAT said the Property Council was calling for rate capping, but the government had said that was not its intent.
”However, in light of the highly charged reform environment, this is not a guaranteed position,” LGAT said.
LGAT opposes rate capping, arguing it leads to “negative and long-lasting consequences”.
It said they included the potential for transferring cost between generations, loss of flexibility on infrastructure and services and a tendency to develop a backlog of infrastructure maintenance and renewal work.
LGAT said it had no position on the proposed regulator.
“ … over the last few years, through LGAT, there has been significant investment in improving the sector’s approach to long-term financial and asset management planning, including officer and elected member training, practice notes, maturity assessments, new legislated requirements and a focus by the auditor-general,” it said.