It's no secret that Byron Shire Council is talking to the community about the potential for a Special Rate Variation (SRV) and staff have modelled the SRV's impact on the organisation's Long-Term Financial Plan and Delivery Program.
The SRV proposes a staged increase of general rates over three years to a total compounded increase of 35.03%. After this three-year period, the cumulative increase will be permanently incorporated into the rate base, and future rate increases will be subject to the annual rate peg set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal each year.
It's estimated an SRV would generate an additional approximately $8,600,000 over three years excluding revenue raised by normal rate pegging that would go towards the maintenance of essential infrastructure and more resilient facilities for the community.
"Our Long-Term Financial Plan, which was adopted in June this year, highlighted the financial challenges facing Council and modelled what the impact of an SRV would be on our finances," Heather Sills, Manager Corporate Services, said.
"The SRV revenue projected in the Long-Term Financial Plan means we can fix more roads and community infrastructure which are some of the key focus areas in our Delivery Program."
The proposed addendum to the Delivery Program summarises the financial situation facing Council, details the proposed increase in rate revenue, and outlines how additional funding would be allocated, the possible impact on rate payers, efficiency measures Council has undertaken, and what the alternative options are.
An emerging priority in the Delivery Program is information security to highlight the uplift in Council's cyber security which a portion of the SRV revenue would be directed towards.
Community consultation is ongoing and if Council decides not to go ahead with the SRV at its meeting in December these changes will not apply.
The documents are on exhibition on Council's Your Say website until 30 October.
