Shire of Plantagenet council to vote on five per cent rate rise

Shire of Plantagenet ratepayers are facing a 5 per cent rate rise over the next year, with councillors set to vote on adopting the 2022-23 budget on Tuesday. Rates rose by 3 per cent last year after they were frozen for the 2020/21 financial year in response to the COVID pandemic. The 5 per cent increase is expected to see rates revenue climb to $7,439,995 — up from $7,085,709 last year. Plantagenet Shire president Chris Pavlovich said the rates rise was appropriate to achieve the projects the Shire had planned for the coming year. “Five per cent in still under the local government CPI,” he said. “We kept that in mind to balance the budget around that, but it would be financially suicidal to keep cutting the income back, and back, and back, then finding you can’t afford to do the jobs you resolved to do. “We’ve got things we’ve said to the community that we’re going to try and deliver, so we’ve got to make sure we can fund those.” The proposed budget outlines an expected $27 million of expenditure, including an operating expenditure of $19.4 million and capital expenditure of $7.6 million. More than $3.4 million has been allocated towards ongoing road renewal as well as new road projects. “We’ve gone through our community consultation ... it keeps coming back to us to not cut back on roads,” Mr Pavlovich said. “We’ve got our normal roads program, but there is also a fair bit of Federal Government stimulus money going into roads. “We’re looking at over a million dollars extra this year just on the back of allocating some of the local roads and community infrastructure money.” Footpath renewal accounts for more than $300,000 of the expenditure budget, and $400,000 will go towards the Mt Barker Memorial Swimming Pool project. An allocation of $150,000 will ensure the Wilson Park youth precinct project gets started, and the same amount has been dedicated to streetscape improvements. Mr Pavlovich said youth services, playgrounds, footpaths, trails and cycleways were items rated high priorities in the shire’s corporate business plan. “It seems like five years ago those were things that nobody ever commented on,” he said. “They’re now demanding more active transport infrastructure, safety for kids riding to school — all the stuff that you can take for granted once you’ve got them. “We’re putting a fair bit of effort into that.” An incentive to encourage the early payment of rates has once again been proposed. If the rise is passed as proposed, ratepayers will have until September 13 to pay their rates to be entered into the the raffle to win one of three prizes; a $750 Bendigo bank account, two nights’ accommodation in Perth or a carton of wine valued at more than $240.