Mid-Western Regional residents’ annual rates will rise by no more than $50 when rate bills arrive in their mailboxes next month – unless they own a coal mine.
Coal mining companies will carry most the weight of the 2.8 per cent rate revenue increase allowed by the State Government.
Council's finance and administration group manager Clare Phelan said the average rate for residential properties will rise by $6.50.
Most ratepayers will pay less than $15 more than the previous year and the no resident’s rate will rise by more than $50 a year.
The minimum residential rate will rise from $541.88 to $555.97 or $14.09 a year. Around 43 per cent of residential ratepayers pay the minimum rate.
However, the largest coal mining companies will pay up to $50,000 more in rates than they paid last year.
Altogether, Mid-Western Region coal mines will pay an additional $278,000, a 36.6 per cent increase.
The three largest mines will pay an extra $200,000. Smaller mines’ rates will rise by between $5000 and $30,000.
The larger mines will pay almost $900,000 in rates in total.
The average farmland rate will rise by $18.34 a year to $2242.
The average business rate will rise by $14.90 a year to $2006.
Ms Phelan said only about a dozen business ratepayers would see a rate rise of more than $50 a year and no individual business rate would rise by more than $131.
The sting for some businesses will lie in the second phase of increased sewer charges based on water use.
Although the non-residential access fee will fall from $400 to $335, the discharge fee will almost treble, from 44 cents/kilolitre to $1.27/kilolitre.
The increased sewer charges, to be phased in over three years, are in line with the State Government's guidelines for best practice for management of water and sewer schemes. Council must comply with the guidelines to qualify for government grants for water and sewer projects
Ms Phelan said council needed to increase sewer charges by the equivalent of the CPI plus eight per cent over the next six years to fund $33 million in augmentation works for the Rylstone, Kandos, Charbon, Clandulla and Mudgee sewer systems.
The residential sewer access fee will rise 11 per cent, from $476 to $528.
The annual residential water access fee for households will fall from $143 to $125 , but the price per kilolitre of water will rise from $1.72 to $2.40. The charge rises to $3.60 per kilolitre if water use exceeds 150 kilolitres in a rating cycle.
Ms Phelan said the state government required councils to recoup 75 per cent of the cost of operating their water schemes from usage charges and 25 per cent from access fees.
Council is lobbying the state and federal government for a 50/50 or 60/40 split better suited to a region with a smaller population spread over a wider area, with three separate water supply systems, she said.
Council’s budgeted rate revenue is $14.3 million, which comprises 41 per cent of total revenue.
Rate notices will be posted from July 13 and the first rate instalment is due on August 31.
Ratepayers experiencing difficulty paying rates are advised to contact council before the due dates to make payment arrangements.
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