10 per cent rates waiver in 2020/21 Budget to assist all ratepayers
Published on 26 August 2020
Monash Council has made the unprecedented decision to introduce a 10 per cent waiver on Council rates for the 2020/21 financial year in a gesture of support for the community during COVID-19.
Council’s 2020/21 budget was adopted at the 25 August Council meeting with the rate waiver applied to all 81,319 Monash ratepayers.
Mayor Stuart James said the budget passed by Council was unlike any before and nothing like what had been planned before COVID-19.
“We know everyone in our community is doing it tough. Some have lost jobs, others have businesses that are threatened and all of us are anxious about what’s going to happen,” Cr James said. “That’s why this waiver applies to all ratepayers in Monash, because everyone is impacted in some way.
“At the time we put this proposal forward in our draft budget in June, we had not gone into the second lockdown and families and business were already under severe pressure. The second lockdown has increased that pressure significantly, reinforcing our belief that this is the right decision to make to support ratepayers at this incredibly difficult time and return some money to their pocket”.
The 10% waiver is applied under Section 171(1)(b) of the Act to all rateable properties on the 2020/21 declared rate as at 1 July 2020. Council has also extended its hardship policy so that any ratepayer impacted by COVID-19 can apply to defer paying their rates until 20 June 2021 without having to pay any penalty interest.
Council’s 2020/21 budget includes a $46.2M (new and carry forward projects) Capital Works Program for 2020/21. The Capital Works Program focuses on core services such as drainage, footpaths, road and waste improvements identified by the Monash community as important upgrades. The impact of COVID-19 and a delay of the Montclair car park project saw the total Capital Works funding decreased by $18.7M compared to the 2019/20 forecast budget.
“Despite the challenges of COVID-19 our budget still commits to improvements to critical infrastructure and core services, recognising that these services are important to the liveability of Monash residents,” Cr James said.
Cr James said Monash was in the favourable position of having further secured its household recycling service with Visy, despite the volatility of the recycling industry in the wake of the global crisis triggered by China’s ban on recycling resulting in a $1.5M cost per year. For 2020/21 Council will continue to charge a “Recycling & Waste Charge” which is a service charge to meet those increased costs and also cover the increase to the State’s Waste Levy. The current contract with Visy Recycling is in place until April 2023.
“The critical outcome though is that our recycling service continues and recycling is properly processed, not sent to landfill. This limited levy will continue in 2020/21 at $27 per rateable property to recover the costs of the recycling crisis and pensioners will continue to receive a rebate for the full amount of the recycling levy”, Cr James said.
Highlights of the budget include:
- Completion of the Oakleigh Recreation Centre redevelopment into an outstanding integrated multi-purpose sports precinct, featuring five new indoor basketball courts, a gymnasium upgrade and conversion of the existing stadium to a regional level gymnastics facility for the Waverley Gymnastics Club
- A new purpose built child and family centre will be constructed in Mulgrave to replace the ageing Wellington Kindergarten and co-located Maternal and Child Health Service. This project will be completed by 2021/22 with a total budget of $4.52M, including $1M in grants from the State Government.
- Improvements to sports facilities at Caloola, Mulgrave, and Brentwood Reserves. A multi-sport pavilion will be constructed at Caloola ($2.01M) to complement the new tennis facilities; a new pavilion built at Brentwood Reserve ($1.92M) and design and construction of a new pavilion will start at Mulgrave Reserve ($1.80M) including a State Government grant of $900,000
- Road reconstruction programs totalling $4.40M, which includes $1.48M external grant funding and $1.2M to address the resurfacing of local roads in keeping with community expectations
- $4.15M for footpath and cycleways renewal
- Improvement of eight outdoor netball courts at Jells Park.
Media Contact: Jo Robertson 0418 391 979 or email joanne.robertson@monash.vic.gov.au