Council votes to freeze rates and charges

RATES, charges, car parking and waste levy have all been frozen in this year’s City of Ballarat budget.

At an additional special meeting last week, council gave the green light to the draft 2020/21 budget.

City of Ballarat mayor Cr Ben Taylor said although the meeting had been delayed two weeks, no changes were made to the initial proposal.

“The wait was just to give time to our new CEO and new director to review everything and make sure everything was right,” he said.

“But she felt there was no need to make any changes.

“Although a lot of other councils went with a two per cent increase in rates which is the state’s cap, we decided to freeze them totally.”

The budget also includes a $52 million capital works program which aims to boost the city’s economy and sustain businesses.

A provision for a $17 million loan is in the budget proposed to manage cash flow to complete these works and offset lost revenue from rate repayments.

“With an in our core capital, we had a lot of discussions around whether we should reduce some things that we deliver so we don’t need to borrow,” Cr Taylor said.

“We still need to be putting money into the economy, we still need to get contractors building roads and doing construction.

“The borrowings are there as a safety net, just in case, anticipated to be paid back within about three years.”

Alongside the rate freezes and capital plans, the council also introduced a COVID-19 financial hardship policy for residents who have experienced at least a 30 per cent decrease in income.

Those struggling can seek out rate deferrals, rate payment plans and waiving of interest on rate payments as per the budget.

“We will work with individuals to put deferral around payments, get payment plans and to not add an interest component,” Cr Taylor said.

“We encourage people to ring up, we have a policy that’s nice and consistent for people to understand and take advantage of.

“As an economy and a community, we want people back in their jobs and doing what they were doing.”