Pensioner outcry as Riverina council rate rises of up to 48 per cent flagged

Tumut Community Association president Christine Webb has raised an outcry after the Snowy Valleys Council lodged an application for a cumulative special rate variation of 42.38 per cent over the next three years.

The council has applied for a 12.5 per cent rate rise each financial year from 2024/2025 until 2026/2027, with each rise sitting approximately 7 per cent above the rate peg.

It comes as other councils in the region also lodged applications for special rate variations, with the Narrandera Shire Council applying for a cumulative rate hike of 48.09 per cent over just two years, while Griffith City Council has requested a 34.9 per cent rise over the next three years.

Ms Webb, who is herself a pensioner, said if approved, the three-year-rise could see her annual rates increase by in the vicinity of $1000.

She is currently paying approximately $2200 and believes this could rise to about $3300 if IPART approves the rate variation.

Ms Webb said the association is against the proposed changes and is preparing a submission to that effect for IPART.

She said over the past two years, the council has already raised rates significantly and that the impacts are being felt in the community.

"People are being hit very hard, but how is the council justifying [these rate rises]?"

Ms Webb is calling on the council to explain why the changes are necessary.

"If the council is going to increase rates by that much, we'd like to know what it is spending it on and how it is saving money," she said.

Mayor Ian Chaffey said one of the key reasons proposed rate hikes are needed is because of the forced merger of the Snowy Valleys and Tumbarumba councils in 2016.

"Over the last seven years we've run at a cumulative loss in excess of $35 million," Cr Chaffey said.

He said last financial year saw the council lose nearly $5 million.

Cr Chaffey said when the council meets for its budget workshop in March, it will be looking at ways to save money within the organisation.

He said council won't be able to find $5 million of cost savings, so he is hoping to balance those efforts against raising council rates," he said.

Cr Chaffey said other merged councils were in a "similar financial situation" and put it down to the forced mergers.

"Cootamundra-Gundagai, Federation, Hilltops, Snowy Monaro councils are all experiencing financial sustainability issues, which essentially we believe have been brought about by the merger proposition," he said.

IPART chair Carmel Donnelly said the tribunal is now seeking community feedback on these applications.

Ms Donnelly said the reasons provided for the applications include to gain additional revenue to cover increasing costs and to continue providing current service levels.

"The Tribunal will assess each application against the criteria established by the Office of Local Government, which require councils to demonstrate the need for the additional revenue, provide evidence of community consultation and detail the impact on affected ratepayers," she said.

Ms Donnelly stressed the importance of community feedback when assessing whether to grant a special rate variation request.

"We encourage affected ratepayers and community members to fill out the survey on the IPART website or lodge a submission in relation to any of the applications we've received," she said.

IPART sets a rate peg annually for every council in NSW which caps the amount by which councils can increase the revenue they collect from rates. For 2024-25, the core rate pegs range from 4.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent across the state.

All 2024-25 applications are available for review on the IPART website and the tribunal will accept feedback on special variation applications until 11.59pm on Monday, March 18.

The final decisions on special variation applications will be released in May.