CENTRAL Coast Council is seeking a 15 per cent rate rise next financial year to staunch its financial wounds as Labor and a thousands-strong petition seek answers and a vote on re-dividing the former Wyong and Gosford shires.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has confirmed that the council is seeking a 15 per cent single-year increase to its rates. The mandated rate peg, the level to which councils can lift rates without formal approval, is 2 per cent.
"Some of the proposed increases have already caused strong community reaction. There have been more than 3850 submissions about the Central Coast Council's application and 175 about Liverpool Plains Shire Council," IPART tribunal member Deborah Cope said.
More: Council News
The council, which was in October forced to beg for $6.2 million from the state government, is under the guidance of an interim administrator. With councillors suspended until at least April, it is far from out of the firing line.
More than 7700 people have signed a parliamentary petition calling for a judicial inquiry into the council's predicament, including exploring the role of amalgamation.
It points to "accumulated debt since amalgamation in 2016 of a reported $565 million" and losses "well over $200 million" in the past four years. The petition is also imploring the government to delay consideration of the rate rise, which was sought by administrator Dick Persson. In a three-month report released this month, Mr Persson noted the opposition and that "no one wants a rate increase, especially one caused by councils' financial mismanagement".
On this issue: Administrator finds Central Coast council failed to practise the basics of sound financial management
"I have been supporting a rate rise because I can't see any other way out of the mess we find ourselves in," he wrote.
"I accept I will cop criticism from many, but in the end, I need to do what I feel is necessary. I challenge those critics to come up with realistic alternate proposals and invite them to deal with their anger at the appropriate place - the ballot box."
He noted rates, if allowed to rise, would remain lower than those in several Hunter councils.
The NSW Opposition wants to go back even further in seeking a solution.
Swansea MP and deputy shadow premier Yasmin Catley joined a chorus of Labor MPs calling for residents to have an option to split the local government area in two again. The council was merged under the Baird government in 2016.
"The blame for the structural problems and financial collapse of the amalgamated council lies at the feet of the Liberal state government," Ms Catley said.
Mr Persson said the Minister for Local Government would ultimately decide if the councillors would return.
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