General News
19 June, 2026
Rates rise by 8.3 %
DOUGLAS Shire rates and charges are to rise by an average 8.3% this year – far more than inflation of about 4.2%.
Rates, water bills and rubbish collection charges are expected to draw in $52.4 million in 2026-27, up $4m on 2025-26 after a restructuring of the Shire’s differential rating system and a revaluation of property values, which have risen dramatically.
The council unanimously brought down its 2026-27 budget on Tuesday and attempted to soften the blow by emphasising how low the increases were for the majority of ratepayers.
Council says the budget focused on securing the Shire’s water future, supporting sustainable tourism growth and strengthening financial sustainability, while protecting ratepayers from sharp increases driven by inflation and rising costs.
There will be a general rate increase of less than $1.55 per week or $81 per year for almost two-thirds (62%) of all residential owner-occupiers, with most investment properties (78%) rising by around $2.25 per week and commercial properties (66%) by about $3.35 per week.
Mayor Lisa Scomazzon said the budget reflected the reality of rising costs across the country.
“Every household and business is feeling the impact of higher prices and council is no different,” she said.
“We’ve worked hard to keep this budget as fair and steady as possible while still delivering the essential services our community relies on.”
Council has changed several rating policies to create a fairer system, with more properties contributing at the same level and fewer sharp variations between categories.
“Last year we were forecasting a $915,000 deficit. This year that figure has reduced to a deficit of around $600,000 and we are on track to balance the budget in 2027–28,” Cr Scomazzon said.
“We are bringing the deficit down each year because you can’t live beyond your means. Council must be financially viable so we can keep delivering for our community and we’re doing that with less reliance on rate increases to ease the burden on residents and ratepayers.”
But the Douglas Shire Ratepayers Association (DSRA) believes the budget does not go far enough.
DSRA president John Sullivan (pictured left) said the council needed to look at business efficiencies within the organisation and to actually reduce its operating costs rather than continuously increasing rates.
He said, for example, council salaries and wages were rising 9.3% from $21.8m in 2025/2026 to $23.9m in 2026/2027.
“These are very big increases and, considering the big increase in employee benefits, it appears that council is considering increasing what is already a very large workforce for a relatively small council to a level where council will struggle to accommodate its workforce,” Mr Sullivan said.
Cr Scomazzon said with the rising cost of living, she understood the concerns ratepayers had about any rate increases.
“Households, businesses and council are all facing the same pressures and we’ve been very mindful of that in this year’s budget,” she said.
“Employee costs are managed within the constraints of delivering services expected by the community, the legislative requirement to be financially responsible and being respectful of the community’s capacity to contribute through rates and charges.
“Increases in employee benefits are predominantly related to grant-funded temporary positions relating to disaster recovery activities from TC Jasper and recent weather events. The positions are funded by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.”
Big ticket items include:
$70m to deliver roads and transport services and assets, including the Daintree Ferry, bridges, unsealed rural roads, urban streets, drainage, footpaths, cycleways, bus shelters, street lighting and kerb and channel
$49m to deliver water security, produce water for residents, and maintain the water network
$38m to deliver community services and assets, including halls, parks, outdoor spaces, events that support economic development, foreshores, beaches, Mossman Swimming Pool, Port Douglas Splash Park, cemeteries and the library
$15m to deliver sewer services and ensure wastewater is treated and disposed of safely
$9m to deliver resource management services including collecting residents’ bins.
