Will Waste Levy be a Scapegoat for Rate Hikes?

As the 29 local governments wrestle with 2025 Budget pressures, will we see the state waste levy be the scapegoat for opaque rate hikes?

As the last five days of financial year 2024 rolls in, councils around Tasmania are grappling with how they bring the budget for 2025. Some have chosen to come out early and deal the pain to ratepayers with large rate increases.

Others are staying silent until they absolutely have to come out and face the ratepayer music of the cost of living crisis.

The Tasmanian government passed legislation last year for a waste levy and ‘recycle rewards’ scheme for the state. These two pieces of legislation may now be playing out in the form of hidden rate charges when we look across the state closely.

Some councils’ 2025 budgets have allowed the headline rate increase to be kept to a minimum and the levy charges to do the heavy lifting in balancing their books moving forward.

This is not a new concept; the mainland states have been doing this for decades with some councils becoming increasingly better off if they play a part in the waste transfer facility network.

Meanwhile others had to prop up the infrastructure spend around both recycling and waste implementation strategies.

If we look at the north west councils this month there are four of them joining the FOGO parade.

West Coast has delayed the release of their rates whilst placing a key piece of infrastructure as their centrepiece in recycling and waste transfer strategy moving forward at Zeehan.

Waratah-Wynyard has produced a very low end rate increae whilst still planning quite a large capex project budget. Burnie has come out early with a large rate hike to the ratepayers hoping to take the heat and ride it out.

Central Coast came out early last year under the new general manager and mayor stating they couldn’t afford the glitz anymore and it would be back to basics.

Devonport keeps on its merry way to be showcasing itself to the world for when the new Spirits finally arrive whilst advising not to be afraid of FOGO. Circular Head looks for growth and slugs the farmers and rural property owners fairly hefty rate hike for 2025.

Where does this leave Latrobe and Kentish councils under new General Manager Jason Browne, himself newly recycled from the Huon Valley junkyard?

My guess is that they will adopt most of the above by slugging farmers and rural property owners quite hard with double digit rate increases.

Commercial and industrial will also have significant rates increase whilst keeping residential owners’ rate increases as low as they dare.

Given Latrobe Debt repayment amount this year in interest alone maybe just shy of 1 million dollars and staffing costs increases may nudge over 1 million as well, I would think that a medium rate hike will not cut the mustard and they will have to increase well into the double digits to break even.

Alternatively under the covering fire of recycle rewards and the state waste levy, the council may choose to offset a small rate increase with a very large waste levy charges that in some cases may resemble double digit rate hikes.

There was a 30 million underspend over the last four years or seven and half million dollars disappearing from each of the last four budgets on average and no explanation on exactly where that 30 million went.

Where exactly does this leave the ratepayers of Latrobe at and how does this look moving forward?

Will there be any major capex projects in the budget or will it be so trimmed back with employees looking for something to do?

We will just have to wait until July 3^rd evening to find out what is behind Latrobe’s budget doors which is too late to ask questions on notice to get some answers.

James Redgrave is a former military serviceperson and private investigator who takes an interest in local government matters in Tasmania.