City of Ballarat council rates for residential properties will rise by an average of 6.4 per cent when council approves its draft 2022-23 budget at this month's ordinary meeting on Wednesday evening - an increase which sits above current levels of inflation.
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In the result, the average residential rate bill will rise to $1588, close to $100 more than the year prior, when council increased rates by 3.7 per cent.
It comes amid unprecedented housing stress across the community, driven largely by a confluence of factors, from soaring inflation and climbing energy bills, to sluggish wage growth and higher interest rates.
Naomi Stephenson, emergency relief coordinator with Anglicare Ballarat, said the level of demand at the agency had risen markedly in recent months, with new clients not entirely limited to private renters.
"We're seeing a lot of fresh faces every week - perhaps three or four households, which means we're also dealing with a lot of embarrassment, because these are people who have never accessed emergency help or Centrelink before," she said, adding that this was equivalent to a 50 per cent rise in demand since mid-last year.
"I've talked to two people struggling to meet their mortgage repayments, who said they were in a similar position to private renters, saying 'we can't do it - we can't meet our payments'.
"But, generally, most of our clients are people who don't own their own homes."
Though those most struggling with surging cost of living pressures appear to be renters, as opposed to homeowners, City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King said council had resolved to ensure hardship relief of various kinds would be available to ratepayers who anticipated difficulty meeting their rate obligations.
"We've had a long conversation with councillors around the impacts of rate rises on fixed- and low-income people," he said, noting council had expanded upon its usual mechanisms to relieve financial pressure.
"In addition to our usual financial hardship policy, which provides us with a whole range of tools we can use to help people pay their rates, council is providing an additional $100 rebate for people who hold a healthcare card.
"We're obviously very understanding of the current cost of living pressures and obviously [council] rates are one of those things that adds to that."
Mr King added that homeowners would be advised of their rights under council's hardship policy when they receive their rates notice.
Under the policy, homeowners can apply for a deferral or waiver of rates and charges, which may result in a mutually agreed payment plan, a reduction in rates or a full waiver.
As previously reported by this masthead, council's decision to increase residential rates by 6.4 per cent does, technically speaking, align with the 1.75 per cent increase permitted under the state government cap, due to the differential distribution of rates applied by council across residential, commercial, farming and industrial properties.
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Unlike residential ratepayers, for example, commercial and industrial property ratepayers will receive a rate reduction between 10 to 13 per cent in keeping with council's four-year strategy to ease the burden of rates shouldered by business.
In answer to resident concerns over the impact of the rate rise on cost of living, council officers cited the council's own constrained fiscal position, which, they said, was not immune to the challenges occasioned by the cascading impacts of inflation.
"The decision to raise rates in line with the [state government] cap is not taken lightly, but it allows us to partially cover the increases in costs council experiences in continuing to deliver the critical infrastructure and services needed to support our growing community," the council officer said.
Meanwhile, cost of living pressures for renters and homeowners alike are expected to deepen in coming months, with the Reserve Bank forecasting inflation to hit seven per cent by the year's end.
This, combined with the low unemployment rate, has given rise to the prospect of yet more interest rate rises to curb inflation.
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