Council will definitely not try to increase rates beyond a state government cap, the mayor Cr Ben Taylor has said this week.
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The matter goes before councillors on Wednesday at the first ordinary council meeting of the year.
If the City of Ballarat is to apply for a higher rise than the state-imposed cap, officers would need to confirm their intention to do so by the last day of the month on Friday.
The cap for the 2020/21 financial year was set at two per cent by the state's local government minister Adem Somyurek last month.
Councils can apply to the Essential Services Commission for a variation in the rate cap, which is set at state level following the introduction of the Fair Go Rates Cap in 2016/17.
Two Victorian councils, Warrnambool and Mansfield, successfully applied for rate higher than the 2.5 per cent cap imposed for the 2019/20 financial year.
If there are some opportunities where we could look at some rate relief in different areas, why not look at them?
- Mayor Ben Taylor
However, City of Ballarat officers are recommending councillors do not seek to lift the cap any higher.
If councillors confirm the officers' recommendation, the maximum overall rate increase - which would apply just to rates - would not go beyond that level.
However, it would not necessarily mean that individual rates rises will be limited to a two per cent increase.
With rates tied to property prices, households in areas that are rapidly increasing in value would bear a greater burden of any increase.
SEE HOW BALLARAT RATE INCREASES HAVE FALLEN SINCE THE RATE CAP
Cr Taylor also said council officers were looking into the implication for infrastructure and council-run services if rates are frozen or only go up by one per cent.
He told The Courier council officers were considering the potential effect of keeping rate rises down below the cap.
The move would allow councillors more time to consider the budget fully over the next few months, he said.
Last June, in a late move, Cr Amy Johnson proposed a freeze on rates at a council meeting set aside to confirm the budget for this financial year. Her intervention was rejected by all councillors except for Cr Taylor.
Cr Taylor said he also wanted the council to consider the current level of business rates and whether they could be reduced.
"If there are some opportunities where we could look at some rate relief in different areas, why not look at them?" he said.
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