UPDATE (Wednesday August 20): City of Bunbury council have not adopted a motion set out by local business owners at a special electors meeting last week to scrap a new single-rating system.
Council acknowledged the motion and officially thanked each elector for attending the meeting, but advised them they would not revert back to the old differential rating system.
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A MOTION to scrap Bunbury’s new single-rating system entirely or alternatively introduce a 15 per cent rate cap for 600 Bunbury property owners were not expected to be discussed as planned at last night’s council meeting.
The proposal required a minimum of seven voting council members to be present at the meeting, which was not achieved.
But council did vote on the motion put forward at the special electors meeting to revert back to a differential rating system.
The executive recommendation was that council should not budge on its decision to introduce a single rating system.
Last Tuesday night, more than 70 Bunbury business owners attended a special electors meeting to voice their concerns about the recently introduced single-rating system.
The new system was introduced alongside the Budget for 2014/15 on July 30.
Its aim was to allow all ratepayers to pay rates based on the same rate in the dollar applied to the gross rental value – as determined by Landgate – of their property.
Under the single-rating system the average residential rate has increased by 4.3 per cent and the average non-residential rate increased by 10.7 per cent.
Last month Southern Districts Estate Agency’s commercial division director Geoff Pedley said the industrial and mixed business sectors were not doing as well as some may think.
Mr Pedley said businesses experiencing very tough times did not need “massive rate increases” to make things even harder.
“We understand that as landowners and business people we have a commitment to paying rates which supports our broader community but we also must make sure that the costs associated with running businesses are not over-the-top,” Mr Pedley said.
City of Bunbury Mayor Gary Brennan said he supported the implementation of a concession.
“I am aware it is tough out there for some of our local business owners and if a concession will help ease the burden then I’m all for it,” Mr Brennan said.
“However I do believe a single-rating system is the fairest and most equitable method of determining rates.”
For an update from last night’s meeting, go to bunburymail.com.au
