Villages should pay fair share
So our council is concerned about a revenue shortfall and proposes several variations of rate rise.
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Justified or not, only one thing is certain. Virtually all the residents within the growing over 55's lifestyle villages will make no contribution to increasing the revenue.
As I understand it, almost all those dwellings are built under a loophole of the Land Act and treated as caravan parks, the rating on which is based on the unimproved capital value of the whole land area not the house site.
Therefore the average rate per dwelling, depending on which development, is between $100 and $200 per year. How does that compare with your rates each year?
Port Stephens Council has washed its hands of the matter saying it is a state government issue. And so it is, but nothing will change if the council and ratepayers do not raise the issue and make a fuss.
Under current arrangements general ratepayers will face one of the proposed rate hikes and those in the villages will continue to "pay no council rates" as the developers so happily advertise. Over the existing 2500 dwellings in this category the rate shortfall compared with normal ratepayers is in the order of $2 million to $2.5 million per annum. Hardly fair.
Stuart Manley, Soldiers Point
Back to basics on spending
Port Stephens is an LGA with a diverse community.
With diversity comes differing demands from the various elements that make up this community. The area is growing, no doubt about that. Port Stephens Council's elected community representatives - including the mayor Ryan Palmer who only won popular vote with less than a one per cent differential (source www.elections.nsw.gov.au) - need to oversee the desires of the paid executive in what to spend our money on.
Local councils are only there to provide the roads, rubbish and basic public space management. Everything else is an optional extra, when funds allow. Much of the expenditure that does occur is through grant applications. Suggesting we continue spending money to provide basic services, and to do this requires upwards of a 45 per cent rate increase over 10 years, is clearly demonstrating that the champagne dreams on beer man's wages is out of step.
My rates are about $1600 per year, to increase this to $2320 over ten years when my salary is running at 3 per cent is simply unrealistic. Solution, don't spend beyond your means, that may include paying less for a mayoral car, setting a realistic budget and not overpaying the executive.
Lead by example.
I am happy to support a modest 2.5 per cent variation for three years on top of the average 2.5 per cent already suggested. In three years the people of Port Stephens get to vote again.
D Bell, Raymond Terrace
Spending review critical
I would like to commend the Examiner for exposing the scale of Port Stephens Council's intentions for rate increases (Rates hike back on table, News, July 21).
It is unfortunate that the information provided by the council with the recent rates notice did not contain the specific details mentioned by the Examiner.
The rates notice would have been an ideal mechanism to convey those intentions, compared to referring ratepayers to a bundle of online documents. That said, I would recommend that ratepayers take the time to read those documents, especially the Q&A section.
What intrigues me is the total concentration on increasing revenues (especially by a special rate variation) as opposed to reviewing expenditures. I would expect that once the scale of proposed rate increases is exposed, what were once regarded as community needs instead become community wants. A critical review of proposed capital works is essential.
Peter Warne, Medowie
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