Special Rate Variation Community Engagement Report - Shoalhaven City Council

2.5.1 Support for a rates increase
Respondents were asked to rate their support for having to pay higher rates using a 10 - point
scale ranges from 0 to 10. Two in five residents (40%) indicated that they were ‘not at all
supportive’ of paying higher rates. 16% of respondents had neutral support for paying higher
rates. Average respondent support was 3.0 out of 10. (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. Support for a rates increase
Not at all supportive
Neutral
Very supportive
40%
16%
5%
8%
5% 5%
4%
8%
6%
2% 2%
Not at all
supportive
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very
supportive
Average
3.0
Base: All respondents (n = 405)
In order to understand support for paying higher rates, the differences between subgroups
were investigated. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to investigate the significant
differences between mean scores given by each subgroup. The results showed that overall
support of the idea of having to pay higher rates was 3.0. This result is the same among ratepayers.
Non-rate payers seem to be less supportive (2.6 support level on average) compared
to rate-payers (3.0), however the significance tests show that the differences are not
statistically significant (see Figure 7).
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