Residents forced to choose between endless potholes, or huge council rate hike
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Exclusive: When Bradley Thiessen learned his local council was proposing a huge 34.4 per cent rate hike, he was horrified but not surprised.
Councils across Australia have been increasing rates to keep up with inflation, rising costs and increased service demands, with some councils in NSW announcing rate hikes of up to 50 per cent last month.
Bradley Thiessen has lived in the Wingecarribee Shire Council area all his life and is unimpressed with its latest proposal. Bradley Thiessen
In February, Mayor of Wingecarribee Shire Council Jesse Fitzpatrick promised NSW Southern Highlands residents there would be no special rate rise for the 2026-27 financial year.
Instead, council has proposed a huge hike for 2027-28.
It has identified a $100 million gap between the cost of maintaining local roads and infrastructure, and the funding available to it each year.
More than $31 million of that is required for urgent work on deteriorating roads and infrastructure, like the potholes Thiessen said plague the region.
More than 1200 potholes across the region had to be repaired in May, another 880 potholes had to be repaired in June, and nearly 100 more were scheduled for repair by the end of July.
It has proposed two options to manage the problem.
Locals can stick to the “status quo” Fitzpatrick promised and continue with ordinary rate peg increases while, by the council’s own admission, already deteriorated roads and infrastructure continue to decline.
Or they can agree to a special rate variation (SRV) that would lock Wingecarribee residents into a permanent 34.4 per cent cumulative rate hike over three years so that more funding can be invested in maintaining roads and buildings properly.
Thiessen told nine.com.au that’s no choice at all.
Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Skipper: mskipper@nine.com.au
Locals have taken to tracking the region’s potholes in a Facebook group called ‘Wingecarribee pothole record’. Facebook/Wingecarribee pothole record
“Giving the public only two choices, one of them being higher rates and the other one being the deterioration of public infrastructure, I think is pretty slack,” he said.
“It’s a false choice.”
Wingecarribee Shire Council’s proposal comes on the back of years of rate hikes and other major fee increases.
Local ratepayers went through a 45.3 per cent cumulative rate rise between 2016 and 2020.
Water access charges have jumped by 15 per cent for 2026-27, water usage charges are up by 26 per cent, and sewer charges have increased by 8.5 per cent.
It’s hitting many in the hip pocket and Thiessen said young families like his might not be able to keep up with a major rate hike as well.
“This is gonna it’s going to add up, and it’s going to be a struggle for a lot of people,” he said.
He also claimed Wingecarribee Shire Council had not been transparent with locals about how ratepayer funding is spent.
“People are over it. They’re over being given excuses and reasons for the deterioration of roads and public services, but no real answers as to what council’s going to do to fix it.”
Wingecarribee Shire Council’s two-option proposal is currently out for community consultation, with locals invited to have their say until August 28.
Thiessen is demanding the council present another option that will prioritise vital work on roads and infrastructure without costing locals a small fortune in rates.
He started a Change.org petition opposing Wingecarribee Shire Council’s proposal and calling for an independent audit of council spending.
At the time of writing, it had more than 600 signatures.
Wingecarribee Shire Council said independent financial advice is how it developed the two-option proposal in the first place.
“Council engaged independent financial experts AEC Group to undertake a Financial Sustainability Assessment of Council’s long-term financial position, infrastructure obligations and available financial levers,” a Wingecarribee Shire Council spokesperson told nine.com.au.
“This work informed the two financially modelled scenarios included in Council’s Long Term Financial Plan and now being presented to the community.”
Modelling shows a 34.4 per cent rate hike would generate an estimated $152 million in additional revenue for Wingecarribee Shire Council over a decade, which could go a long way in addressing its $100 million gap.
Increasing rates would generate more than $150 million for the council. Getty
But Thiessen said that money shouldn’t come out of residents’ pockets.
“If you were running a business that was losing money, you couldn’t just keep going to the bank and asking for more, they would just say no,” he said.
“I think it’s the public’s right to say no, and to expect better administration and operations within the council before they ask for more money.”
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