Record budget and Queensland-first rates concession for owner-occupier
Published 14 June 2024
Council today adopted City of Moreton Bay’s 2024-25 budget with a focus on alleviating everyday cost pressures, alongside a strong commitment to laying sustainable foundations for the future.
In delivering Council’s record $922 million budget, Mayor Peter Flannery said City of Moreton Bay continued to maintain low levels of debt and wanted to help local families with cost of living via a financial relief rates concession for residential owners.
“We don’t have many levers as a local government, but sound financial management and utilisation of Carbon Credits from Council’s landfill operations means City of Moreton Bay can support our residents when they need it most.
“We know people are doing it tough, so Council is granting a $50 rates concession to eligible owner-occupied residential properties from 1 July 2024, as a one-off to be automatically applied on the first rates bill.
“This type of concession is a Queensland first. No local Government has implemented this before, so we thank Local Government Minister Meaghan Scanlon for her support in helping us realise this for our residents.
“According to Roy Morgan Research, a record high number of homeowners are facing mortgage stress and this is leaving families struggling, so as a Council we felt compelled to do something,” Mayor Flannery said.
The financial relief rates concession worth $6 million will apply to residents in the following categories:
- Single Residential Owner Occupied/Single Household - R1
- Units Owner Occupied - U1O, U2O, U3O, U4O, U5O and U6O
- Retirement Villages - RV1.
Mayor Flannery said in addition to residential rates support, Council will add an extra $1 million to its already generous business support initiatives for small business and the local rural/agribusiness sector.
“It’s important to note that the financial relief rates concession, and business support initiative, will be fully funded through the partial use of Council’s Australian Carbon Credit Units, generated from the capture of methane gas at our landfill sites,” Mayor Flannery said.
“As an innovative and economically sustainable Council we will continue to look for opportunities to use our assets in a way that maximises potential for both Council and our residents.
“Our landfill sites will continue to produce gas, and deliver income, so this is a low risk, no-brainer way to use some our assets responsibly and give back to our residents.
“On top of these innovative cost-of-living initiatives, we are pleased to deliver a minimal rate rise, when compared to the average increase in property valuations of a whopping 36% across City of Moreton Bay.
“With the concession applied, the average total rates rise (general rates and levies) for an owner-occupied residential property is 3.8% which equates to just $1.35 per week or $70.21 a year.
“For full transparency, when our garden organics service is introduced in December, the total average residential rate rise equates to $2.10 per week or $109.29 per year.
“So, despite massive land valuations across the City, and a cost-of-living crisis, Council has minimised rate increases to give back to our residents.
“Pensioner rates remissions will continue with the $250 remission for full pensioners benefitting 18,327 properties. We will also continue the $100 rates remission for part-pensioners which will benefit 8,859 properties. As one of the only South East Councils to offer a rebate for eligible self-funded retirees, we will continue to support them with a $75 rebate.
“We know any rate rise, even if it is minimal, is an impact to the hip pocket. We need to keep costs down for locals, while still having enough in the bank to ensure our infrastructure investment keeps pace with population growth and all the while not reducing our service level to the community.
“This year’s total $277 million capital works program does this without breaking the bank, because we absolutely cannot afford to slow down on infrastructure investment when City of Moreton Bay is looking down the barrel of rapid population growth.
“We are not cutting any projects and our responsible budget means we can continue to deliver on some of our key projects such as Youngs Crossing Road, the Suttons Beach Pavilion Redevelopment and Caboolture River Road.
“We’ll commit $88.5 million to road and transport networks and $51.6 million towards 253 road rehabilitation and resurfacing projects to ensure connectivity and liveability for our residents. Plus, there’s 78 footpath projects in construction this year to the value of $17.3 million.
“We’re keeping our community safe and reducing the incidents of local crime with a CCTV infrastructure spend of $1.73 million that will see Council’s CCTV network grow to more than 1,910 cameras during this coming year, making it one of the largest local government CCTV networks in Queensland.
“Our strong environmental focus will help residents reduce waste with the introduction of a dedicated garden organics service in December and in 2024-25, we will also be committing $29.6 million to waterways and coastal areas, $3.7 million to wildlife initiatives and green infrastructure projects, and $41.3 million on parks and the environment.
“This budget, we’re committing $80.1 million to waste management including collection services and will continue our highly valued free tipping for local residents. This year too, as part of our garden organics, we’ll distribute more than 116,000 new bins for this program city-wide.
“In this budget, Council has committed $16.8 million to sport and recreation projects, $51.2 million on free libraries, galleries, museums, community facilities and cultural activations that will see more than 10,000 free public programs activated and 70 high quality exhibitions on display as well as over 40 free community events for families to enjoy.
“We’re also continuing our enviable community leasing program for sporting and community clubs, giving them access to facilities at peppercorn leases.
“We’re looking after our community during this time of cost increases - it’s an extension of what we do every day as the closest level of government to the people.
“This year’s responsible budget delivers value for money to residents, and continues our strong focus and commitment to infrastructure, jobs and innovation to ensure as our population grows, we can sustain the lifestyle City of Moreton Bay is renowned for.
“With a population of more than 500,000 people set to double to 1 million people in under 30 years, we will continue to budget wisely and spend for future liveability, while also working collaboratively with State and Federal Governments to ensure City of Moreton Bay gets its fair share.”
Where City of Moreton Bay rates go:
- $28 in every $100 of rates goes towards keeping our community safe and vibrant including disaster management, CCTV, community halls, free libraries, museums and art galleries, sporting facilities, public health, disability access, community halls and maintaining cemeteries.
- $26 in every $100 of rates goes to well panned places including transport planning, road construction and maintenance, traffic management, cycleways and pathways, landscape and street design, building and plumbing services and fauna infrastructure.
- $19 in every $100 of your rates goes towards healthy environments including waste and recycling, pest and weed management, mosquito management, bushland conservation and managing beach and coastal areas.
- $16 in every $100 in rates goes towards Council operations including customer service, technology and community engagement.
- $11 in every $100 of rates goes towards economic development and attraction including local business support, major event attraction, regional promotion and employment creation.
For the full budget breakdown, including info on what's happening in your area, visit Council’s website.