General News
9 July, 2025
A buck extra a week in rates
THE average residential ratepayer on the Cassowary Coast will pay just over $1 a week extra in rate increases this financial year from $1831 last year to $1884 in 2025-26.
The council says this is an increase of $54 or 2.9 per cent.
Mayor Teresa Millwood said in response to soaring land valuations issued by the state government (an average increase of $36,287 on residential land) and rising costs across all areas of service delivery, the council had worked hard to limit the overall increase in general rates revenue to 3.95 per cent.
She said the council had resisted the pressure to hike charges and focused on protecting ratepayers where it counted.
“We’ve kept the increase modest, but unfortunately we know the impact won’t be the same for everyone,” Cr Millwood said.
“That’s why we’ve built a budget that’s realistic, responsible and focused on essential services,” she said.
Land valuation across the region have increased on average by 37.33 per cent.
Cr Millwood said these changes across the region meant individual rates would vary, while some rates would rise, others would stay the same or even go down.
“This year, due to the state government’s valuation, every property’s outcome will be different, but the total increase is staying low. Some residents will see higher rates, others will see less, a direct result of how land valuations play out,” she said.
Cr Millwood said for the first time, the council had introduced rates capping for residential ratepayers.
She said this meant that even if a property’s land value had increased significantly above the average, the general rates charged would not rise by more than 15 per cent compared to last year.
Cr Millwood said the changes reflected the complexity of this year’s valuations and highlighted the importance of taking a fair and financially responsible approach to setting rates.
To provide additional support the council will maintain:
A five per cent discount for on-time payment
A $300 pensioner concession.
The $197m budget includes:
$81m capital investment in infrastructure, disaster recovery, and liveability
$116m to keep core services flowing – roads, waste, water, parks, libraries, and the other services our community have become accustomed to
A $2.9m operating deficit that is non-cash, stemming from increased depreciation.
In the coming year, the major areas of capital expenditure will include:
$22m for water and wastewater
$36.1m for roads, bridges, drainage and bikeways
$8.6m to finish Tropical Cyclone Jasper recovery works
$4.5m for community services and facilities
$5.1m for Tropical Cyclone Jasper betterment funding of unsealed roads.
