Ballina Shire Councillors are seeking to increase local rates by 26.25 per cent over the next four years. With about $130 million in the bank and an ever increasing commercial property portfolio there is no justification for yet another rate rise.
The proposed increases (as always) would be permanent and compound each year. Ballina Shire Councillors will vote to support this proposal at the December Council meeting.
The online ‘Have your say’ survey doesn’t let you say that you oppose the 26 per cent rate rise unless you nominate which services or infrastructure projects you would be happy to cut back on. There isn’t an option to slightly reduce the annual cash surplus to maintain existing service levels or to achieve a 1 per cent efficiency gain within the organisation.
It feels like the survey has been written in a way that achieves the outcome that Council wants to achieve, which is to rate the rates.
I don’t want service levels or infrastructure projects to be cut while Ballina Council banks approximately $10 million of our rates into term deposit accounts each year or uses ratepayers’ funds to invest in commercial property development.
If you don’t support the rate rise it’s best to send an email to: [email protected], and to the Councillors directly at [email protected].
I assume that the email correspondence will be included in the report to Council in December, but one can’t be sure. While the official deadline for submissions is 14 November, the report to Council won’t be written until early December. If you miss the 14 November deadline it’s still worth emailing Ballina Council, as late submissions are usually included in the Council reports.
If you want the Councillors to know your view, please complete the survey or email those two addresses above and all the Councillors and the Mayor will receive it.
Questions
The Council information states that the proposed rate rise would result in an ‘average ratepayer’ paying an additional $346 in rates per year in 4 years’ time. The proposed increase to the business rate would go up by an average of over $1000 per year.
The reality is that for a large proportion of rate payers the figures would be substantially more than this amount.
I’ve been consciously staying out of ‘local politics’ since retiring from Ballina Council last year after 16 years as a B-Ward representative (and former Deputy Mayor) but I find the information in the ‘Have Your Say’ Council hand out to be misleading at best and outright false at worse. In my opinion there is no justification for another compounding rate rise.
Many families and businesses are finding in increasingly hard to pay bills and to make ends meet. Most people are feeling the ‘cost of living crisis’, inflation is again on the rise, the RBA has deferred further interest rate reductions, and many businesses are struggling to make ends meet.
If this rate rise goes ahead, it will exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis and encourage landlords to pass on the increases (and more) to their tenants. A permanent (and compounding) rate rise now is not necessary (as the Council info contends) and will simply put more money into Ballina Council’s growing bank accounts.
Reasons to oppose the rate rise
Ballina Council runs a multi-million-dollar cash surplus every year. The last year I was on Council the cash surplus was approximately $11 million, and the community funds (rates) invested in bank term deposits was well over $120 million.
Ballina Council also has a significant (and growing) commercial property portfolio which provides millions of dollars in additional revenue.
The proposed rate increase underestimates the impact that it will have on thousands of residential homes and businesses, particularly in B Ward and those who either own or rent a commercial property.
This appears to be a strategy to raise rates not because of a need, but to reach the same rating level as our neighbouring councils.
The Council information booklet states ‘Ballina Council has consistently managed finances carefully, delivering strong services while keeping rates around 11 per cent lower than similar-sized councils.’
Ballina Council used to pride itself on having rates that were lower than our neighbouring Councils. Now it seems like they are using this as a justification to increase rates.
There are several reasons why Ballina Council has been able to maintain rates lower than our neighbouring Councils.
Local government areas (Councils) aren’t the same, for example Lismore Council has a road network that is approximately twice the size of Ballina’s. Lismore’s road network is also much older, resulting in a significantly higher annual maintenance cost.
Lismore also has many old timber bridges, which puts a significant strain on the road maintenance budget. The cost of replacing these bridges is extraordinary with each one likely having a multi-million-dollar price tag. This is just one example (I could list others) of why you can’t justify increasing the rates in Ballina simply because our rates are slightly lower than neighbouring Councils.
Ballina Council has focused on diversifying its income streams.
While I haven’t always been a fan of Council diverting millions of dollars of rate payers’ money into property development, with the increased property values and rents, this has proven to be a win/win for ratepayers.
- It provides an additional income stream (to reduce the need to raise rates).
- It also provides Councillors with the opportunity, if extra funds were actually needed, to look at their commercial property holdings and have a ‘conversation’ about whether millions of dollars of rate payers funds are best served being tied up in commercial property, or whether they would be best redirected into community infrastructure projects to improve services, local amenity and infrastructure that benefits our community. After all, that is what the rates are levied to do.
Another point is that the cost of providing infrastructure increases at a higher rate than the 4 per cent return that Council receives from the $130 million it has in low interest term deposits.
Does it really make sense hoarding community funds in the bank when key infrastructure projects etc continue to become more expensive to deliver?
Some questions to ask the mayor and your local councillors
- What is/was the value of Council’s commercial property portfolio as of June 2005 and June 2025?
- What is/was the total amount of rate payers’ money deposited/invested in term deposits/bank accounts or other financial investments as of June 2005 and June 2025?
- How much rate payer’s money has been spent (invested in or on) commercial property investments since June 2010?
The answers to the above 3 questions would astonish people and highlight why I strongly oppose this current cash grab from the Council.
In the ‘Have your say’ information sheet, and in the mayor’s recorded rate rise sales pitch it’s stated: ‘Rising construction costs and the expansion of our infrastructure network means the cost of maintaining roads, footpaths, parks, and community facilities now exceeds the income we receive.’
The cash surplus a couple of years ago was approximately $12 million!!!!!! I’m not sure how the cost of maintenance exceeds income when the Council runs a multi-million-dollar cash surplus every year.
I could go on but the above points and questions are what I’ll be asking the Council/Councillors. I’ll also be emailing in my objection to the rate rise as I’m not able to complete the biased survey without nominating which services and infrastructure projects I want to have cut.
My position is clear, Ballina Council can maintain their existing infrastructure and services without the rate rise. The proposal has been pitched as a case of one or the other which is simply not true.
A balanced and fair dinkum survey would provide an option that either A) seeks greater efficiencies in the running of the Council and/or B) looks to actually allocate enough resources to fund the projects without raising the rates above the State Governments rate pegging amount.
If you don’t support the rate rise and don’t agree with the premise that services would need to be cut if rates aren’t raised, then either call your local Councillor or send an email to the following addresses:
[email protected], [email protected]
I assume that email correspondence will be included in the report to Council in December.
If you are against the rate rise and feel that this information provides a different perspective to the information provided by the Council, feel free to share to your email contacts or local Facebook groups, etc.
Jeff Johnson
Retired Former B Ward Councillor 2007 – 2024
Former Deputy Mayor
Bachelor of Business Administration
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