Council has released its draft budget for 2015/6. Rates and charges are up as per normal. What is different is the carefully designed sleight of hand that makes it incredibly difficult for residents to pinpoint precisely what the rate increase actually is. Instead of up front declarations of intent we have paragraphs such as –
Average rates and charges per assessment for 2015-2016 increase by approximately 4.94%. This is made up of an additional 600 assessments, an increase of 6.5% for rate revenue and 2.5% for waste and recycling charges.
This is a distinct departure from previous budget announcements as evidenced from the two screen dumps presented below. One is from the 2014/5 budget papers and one from the current draft budget. Readers should note the change in terminology and hence the change in the presented figures. The bottom line is that Glen Eira’s rate increase remains at 6.5% for ten years in succession!
By way of comparison we’ve listed other councils’ proposed rate increases. Not all councils have as yet published their draft budgets. Below is what is available at the time of writing.
Banyule – 4.95%
Bass Coast – 6.3%
Bayside – 3.8%
Benalla – 4.5%
Bendigo – 5.0%
Boroondara – 4.5%
Brimbank – 4.8%
Cardinia – 5.5%
Colac – 4.9%
Corangamite – 5%
Dandenong – 5.5%
East Gippsland – 4.5%
Frankston – 5.5%
Golden Plains – 5.26%
Hobson’s Bay – 4.0%
Horsham – 5.0%
Indigo – 4.5%
Kingston – 4.25%
Latrobe – 3.0%
Manningham – 3.53%
Maribyrnong – 3.7%
Melton – 4.4%
Monash – 6.0%
Moonee Valley – 5.0%
Moorabool – 5.0%
Moreland – 5.0%
Mornington – 5.9%
Mount Alexander – 4.5%
Moyne – 5.75%
Nillumbik – 5.5%
Port Phillip – 4.75%
Pyrenees – 5.25%
Shepparton – 4.95%
South Gippsland – 4.9%
Stonnington – 4.5%
Strathbogie – 4.0%
Surf Coast – 5.5%
Towong – 6.0%
Warnambool – 5.5%
Wellington – 3.5%
Whitehorse – 7.6%
Whittlesea – 3.5%
Whyndham – 3.8%
Yarra – 4.5%
May 1, 2015 at 12:59 PM
Looking at what other councils have done, one question stands out for me – why and how can all of these other municipalities have rate increases year after year for some, that are so much lower than in Glen Eira? Many are double and triple the size and some with greater populations as well as smaller populations. They have all argued I imagine about the impact of cost shifting by state and federal governments. They still manage to keep their rates down somehow. I welcome any investigation by an external body on rates. I also welcome any review of the financials and efficiency within our council.
May 1, 2015 at 4:31 PM
The answer is pretty obvious. The other councils are better at managing money than Glen Eira. What else could it be?
May 1, 2015 at 4:34 PM
yes, and other confusing items are population and dwellings predictions. Population increase for the next 10 years is to be 10,000, whereas http://forecast.id.com.au/glen-eira/population-households-dwellings gives 11,000 forecast. And those forecasts have been exceeded every time I looked at them. On the other hand the number of private dwellings increase required for the next 10 years is predicted to be 7,250. But profile.id suggests only 5,162. Again evry time the real data from Census comes out it is exceeded.
As profle.id gets their forecast information from Glen Eira Council I just wonder who is fooling whom. I know, it’s us the stupid and foolhardy.
May 1, 2015 at 4:49 PM
We do not think that profile.id receives its projections from Council. We believe (but stand to be corrected) that they are derived from Census figures. There is also Victoria in Future. The 2015 figures will be out soon, but the 20014 projections show just under a 10,000 ‘household’ increase by 2031. See: http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/223608/Glen-Eira-One-Page-Profile-VIF2014.pdf
Of course, Glen Eira with this rate of development will have reached the ‘target’ by 2017 or 2018!
May 1, 2015 at 5:21 PM
A cursory glance through the srp and budget shows the same trends – another $4m for wages and another $2m more for contractors. More staff to be put on the books and charges for services up – rubbish, childcare, and Gesac. On the other hand it looks like spending on drains and other essentials stays exactly the same as last year even though they admit costs have risen. Quite literally amazing. No pulling in the belt on waste and staff and more costs passed onto already overburdened ratepayers.
May 1, 2015 at 5:32 PM
More comment on population. Assuming a 1.6% annual increase (that is low), by 2026 Glen Eira population will be over 174,000 (a total of 21% increase). With a more likely scenario of 1.2% yearly increase the population will be close to 183,000 (a 27% increase). It’s interesting that Glen Eira Council does not start their strategic plans with a population study by independent consultants. It just fudges figures to suit themselves. Interestingly, that the DPCD figures are always quoted that shows a very low increase in population figures for Glen Eira. I say again, who is fooling whom.
May 2, 2015 at 11:49 AM
Correction folks the 1.2% was meant to be 2% yearly increase. Just to indicate how bad the forecast are profile.id table shows population for Glen Eira at June 2016 to be 143,630. However, it also reports the population of June 2014 at 144,059. So, we have already exceeded the forecast for 2016 last year. The last 3 year percentage increase were: 1.52%, 1.56%, and 1.87%. And this is before Caulfield Village and Victoria Park are developed.
May 1, 2015 at 6:02 PM
The best bit of bullshit is this sentence – The rates increases for the SRP are also consistent with that consultative process.
Noone asked me what the money raised should be spent on. They do what they like and don’t even have the guts to come out and say that they are ripping us off another 6.5% in plain english that everyone can understand.
May 2, 2015 at 11:38 AM
Me too. I want a say in how our rates are spent. Consultation is a joke in Glen Eira.