The NSW government will pay the rates of flood-affected ratepayers in Byron, Lismore, Ballina, Tweed, Richmond Valley, and Clarence Valley local government areas for 2022–2023.
According to Lismore MP Janelle Saffin, the scheme will cover the residential, commercial and farm rates of eligible ratepayers for one year.
She said, ‘The funding will be provided through Service NSW and the payments will be made directly to councils’.
‘The NSW Government will contact eligible ratepayers in the affected LGAs to inform them it will be paying their rates for next year on their behalf’.
‘The issue of having to pay rates for homes or businesses which currently cannot be lived in or worked from, was raised at the Select Committee’s hearings in Lismore earlier this week,’ Ms Saffin said.
‘It will be good to have a funding package which will provide relief to eligible ratepayers and will not disadvantage local councils which rely on rate revenue to provide services,’ Ms Saffin added.
NB: This article was updated on 10.06.22 to reflect the fact that the Tweed Shire Council is also included in the rates relief scheme. Tweed was inadvertently omitted from the list originally published in the article.
