'Out of touch': Furious residents, MPs protest Northern Beaches Council's proposed rate hike
Outraged residents are pushing back against a Sydney council's huge proposed rate hike.
Northern Beaches Council staff proposed a 39.6 per cent rate rise, which would mean an average annual increase of $673 for households and $1611 for business, following a community survey.
Liberal MPs James Griffin and Matt Cross issued a joint statement claiming the council was "out of touch with the community".
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Locals in Northern Beaches suburbs have protested the proposed rate hike. Pictured: Dee Why. Getty
"There is community outrage with this proposal that will negatively impact local households and small businesses," the members for Manly and Davidson said.
"It will place even greater cost of living pressures on our community."
Griffin and Cross accused the councillors of "ignoring" the majority of residents and "losing control" of the budget.
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Furious locals against the nearly 40 per cent rise are planning to protest the proposed hike at a council meeting tomorrow.
Some residents have already taken to the streets and picketed against the rise.
Members of the Northern Beaches Peoples Voice Facebook page also slammed the proposal and gathered support for the protest on social media.
Some residents have already taken to the streets and picketed against the rise. Pictured: Curl Curl Beach. Photo: Wolter Peeters
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Sydney's Northern Beaches council encompasses suburbs including Manly, Brookvale, Balgowlah, Newport, Mona Vale, Seaforth, Dee Why and Frenchs Forrest.
The Northern Beaches Council said it faced "growing financial pressure" to keep up with escalating costs to maintain services and facilities.
It said tomorrow's meeting would consider the report recommending the rate rise, which incorporates the community survey.
The survey found 51 per cent of Northern Beaches ratepayers supported a lower rise of 10.7 per cent, while 49 per cent backed a bigger hike of between 31.1 per cent and 46 per cent over three years, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
After the survey results were released, the council recommended a rise of 39.6 per cent.
Full Northern Beaches Council statement
Like many councils in NSW, Northern Beaches is facing growing financial pressure due to a widening gap between rates income and the escalating cost to maintain services like roads, footpaths, sportsfields, playgrounds and pools.
Rates income each year is capped by the 'rate peg' set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). Recently this has been less than half the inflation rate and rates income is now $24 million lower each year than if it had been keeping up with inflation.
Additionally, ageing assets, the heavy cost of natural disasters, massive losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing cost shifting to Council from other tiers of Government is impacting Council's ability to maintain crucial service delivery to our community.
It is a challenging process for the elected Council, balancing financial sustainability with the ongoing need for services in the community. On Tuesday the Council will consider a report recommending submission of an application to IPART for a special variation to rates, which also incorporates feedback and data from an opt-in community survey, an independent Capacity to Pay report, an ongoing cost savings plan and an amended Long Term Financial Plan.
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