Special Rate Variation Community Engagement Report - Shoalhaven City Council

You need to concentrate on the priority issues ‐ roads, rubbish, upkeep of public
assets. Any other fancy notions can then be dealt with IF there are funds left over.
The council needs to stop wasting money that they don’t have.
55Lipscomb
e, Dawn
56Symons,
Chris
D16/3692
52
D16/3670
96
No rate rise. Not supportive as believes that the rise is a result of the purchase of
land in Huskisson. Council needs to live within its means, I cannot afford an increase
in rates
How could anyone object to a rate increase when they know what you and your
mob are doing and have planned!
Comment noted and included in
statistics
Comment noted and included in
statistics
Keep up the very good work
57Frew,
Derek
D16/3664
47
I am a ratepayer within the Shoalhaven and I object to any rate rise beyond the
IPART pegged rate. The reasons for my objection are below:
A. Under a previous council a “once only” rate increase was added in recent years.
At the time this rate rise was quoted as being necessary to retain our standards. It
was also part of the reason the Shoalhaven Council was considered “fit for business”
and not subjected to forced amalgamation under the NSW government proposals.
Ratepayers in the Shoalhaven reluctantly accepted the arguments provided for this
“One off” rate increase above the pegged rate.
Comments are noted. Council
understands the potential impact of
those on fixed incomes. Council has
in place a hardship policy to assist
those that have difficulty paying
rates.
B. I am reliant upon a government pension as my sole source of income. This
pension, currently, is sufficient to enable me to live a comfortable life. My pension,
unlike many others, will be taxed as income for my entire life. This means I pay
approximately 28% of my pension in Tax, and will do so until I die. My pension is
indexed twice annually. The indexation that is applied is either CPI or the Average
Quarterly Wage Index. Over the past years this indexation has been in the order of
2%. In this year alone my electricity bill has increased by 12%, gas by about 8% and
all other utilities and services by similar amounts. These items are not considered in
CPI and therefore cost me in real terms against my pension. Your proposed rate
increases do exactly the same, and this is the reason the IPART pegging system was
introduced ‐ to prevent non‐CPI type increases from detracting from peoples
96