To rate rise or not to rate rise – this is the question?
It’s clear Byron Shire Council needs a boost in income to solve an infrastructure backlog that’s been in a state of deterioration for well over a decade.
I’m not that interested in apportioning blame as to why we are in this situation. However, I am interested in getting out of it.
A rate rise is the easy way out for council – not to mention the state and federal government. It’s not so easy for landowners. And it will not be easy for those who rent off the landowners. Any increase in rates will immediately be passed onto tenants. This will make Byron Shire even more unaffordable then it is now.
We need another approach to this problem that does not burden the residents unfairly.
It’s argued by many that tourists impact on the ability of council to maintain public infrastructure at acceptable levels. If this is the case then increasing residential rates is not the appropriate policy response.
A better response may be a tourism infrastructure levy that is applied to any business deriving income from tourists. It will then be up to each individual business to determine whether they pass on this cost to their tourism customers. For example, by applying an accommodation surcharge.
The principal at play here is that it should not be the residents who should be paying for the infrastructure needs of the tourists but the tourists themselves or the businesses that are making money from them.
Residents should pay their fair share but not be expected to unfairly carry the burden for the tourism industry.
We need to ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ – but let’s get the balance right first.
Cr Paul Spooner, Byron Bay
I agree Paul. the levy or surcharge that you suggest sounds a bit like a bed or city tax. This can only happen at State level.
Better to put a commercial rate on the thousands of holiday lets in the shire. They are businesses and not purely residential.
Well said, Paul, I’m all the way with you on this one. Jens Krause
Good call Paul. Our infrastructure bears the load of many visitors so it’s fair that the cost of maintaining and improving is shared widely rather than resting solely with ratepayers. We’re one of the top destinations in Australia, so more support from the State and / or Federal Govt would be a fair start. We all pay our taxes. Well, most of us do. At least some of us do. Now I come to think of it there does seem to always be a lot of people wearing felt hats lounging languidly around cafes in Byron all day. Maybe we should have a latte tax? Sourdough contribution? Length-of-beard rates?