We received our MidCoast Council rates last week. The way the Council calculates the rates has changed. The process is called rates harmonisation and will be phased in over the next 4 years.
The total amount of rates that Council collects is pegged by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal. This year, Council is allowed to collect an extra 2%. Our rates went up 1.8% so I guess the harmonisation process had minimal impact.
It was interesting that the amount charged for Domestic Waste went down $25, Waste Management went up $45.85 and the Residential Coastal part went up by $15.79. So the bulk of our increase was in the Waste Management fee.
Our biggest personal saving was from the successful challenge to the Valuer Generals valuation last year. This resulted in a credit of $311 for last year and reduced our rates by a similar amount this year and will do so again next year. However, by 2023 we will have a new valuation from the VG and we will then have to decide whether the new valuation is realistic. Recent residential sale prices in our area have been very high and I suspect we will be paying much higher rates in 2023.
