A Fairer Rating System
Your Council rates have skyrocketed during this Council term.
I voted against every rate rise, and against the changes to the rating formula that made matters worse.
This Council rammed through a Special Rate Variation that jacked up everyone’s rates by a third. Then it moved the “Base Rate” – a flat fee that evens out rates between families of equal income, down from 50% to 30%, which exacerbated the distortions of land value on the bottom line. For land-owners next to growth centres like Vineyard, the rates of working families and retirees have doubled or more than doubled, despite no change to their income or access to Council services.
It’s not fair, and the system needs to be changed.
My posts about 'Rates'
Over the past 5 years I’ve documented heavily my thoughts and the evolving conversation about your Council rates.
Are you paying too much in Council rates? News from the 2022-2023 Hawkesbury Council Budget
Hawkesbury Council's rating system is broken and unfair. However, there are developments I'd like to share with you. In the…
Defeated in the effort to ensure fairer Hawkesbury Council Rates
Some suburbs in the Hawkesbury are suffering under Council rates that are anywhere between 50% higher to 300% higher or more than…
New land valuations give little relief for rates in most Hawkesbury suburbs
Some people's rates in Hawkesbury suburbs doubled (or worse) in 2017, and a new land valuation will give those people very little…
Hawkesbury Council gets 2018 underway with a bang
The first Hawkesbury Council meeting of 2018 occurred on Tuesday night. A number of issues of consequence to local residents were…
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