Logan budget slugs ratepayers with 6.42% rate hike

A months-long campaign warming ratepayers up for a record hike to their quarterly notice will do little to soften the blow of a 6.42% sting. 

The Logan City budget, handed down by the local council today, has seen the biggest percentage increase in charges in at least 15 years – three years in a row.

While those paying the minimum general rate will cough up an extra $202 extra a year, mayor Jon Raven said their bottom line would benefit from new reform that targets vacant land and the city’s most expensive properties.

This year’s $1.22 billion budget is the city’s biggest ever, surpassing the previous one by $40,000.

Predictably, the council cited rising costs and depreciating assets as key financial pressures.

Cyclone Alfred alone has cost ratepayers $2.1 million.

Cr Raven said the price of construction services and materials, electricity and depreciation had jumped “dramatically” by as much as 25%.

“Logan now tops 400,000 people, and like many households, council is feeling the pinch from rising costs,” he said.

“We listened. We found $32 million in savings and said no to a further $32 million in new spending, targeting funding to projects and services that matter most, and keeping the bottom-line rate increase as low as we can.

“This budget is about need-to-haves, instead of nice-to-haves, as we set the foundations for Logan’s long-term future.”

The next year will see more than $827 million spent on local roads, water and wastewater, parks and community infrastructure.

This includes $146.8 million towards roads (including $1.5 million for pothole repairs), $138.5 towards water, almost $16 million for parks, and $9.8 million for sporting clubs.

The budget outlined $200,000 to upgrade the city’s CCTV network, $160,000 for its flood monitoring network, and $440,000 to make the illegal dumping taskforce permanent.

Winners include pet owners who can get three years of pet registration for the price of two, and ‘gold card’ carrying veterans who will be awarded the full pensioner rates concession, which has been increased to $469.04.

A $778 itinerant vending application fee for food van businesses will be waived, which the council hopes will encourage new businesses.

As reported by MyCity Logan earlier this week, a flat fee for community services charged to all ratepayers since 1994, regardless of property value, will be scrapped and rolled into the general rates charge.

That means owners of the highest-valued properties in the city, predominantly commercial and industrial blocks, will be paying more to help fund libraries, community and neighbourhood centres, and social programs.

“This will share the cost more fairly across the city and more than 116,000 property owners – including 80,000 owner-occupiers – will be better off than they would have been without this change,” Cr Raven said.

“That’s 84.5% of our ratepayers.”

All commercial blocks will also be charged a $163.75 waste utility fee already paid by residential ratepayers.

Other reform will see new rates categories for vacant land to encourage property owners to “build faster”.

“We want to incentivise construction and generate surrounding infrastructure during a national housing crisis,” Cr Raven said.