Blue Mountains council will hold a public meeting to consider whether to apply a rate rise last week approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).
Council had applied to increase general income by more than the rate peg amount of 2.4 per cent. It sought an increase of 6.6 per cent in 2015-16 followed by increases of 9.6 per cent in each of the next three years to 2018-19.
The increases will generate an additional $30.4 million above the rate peg over the next four years.
Council wanted the money to continue environmental protection and restoration, fund asset renewal and maintenance, enhance emergency response capacity and improve services to the community and financial sustainability.
In giving its approval, IPART said the extra money must be used for the purposes stateed in the application. Council will also have to outline its achievements in its annual report each year until 2024-25.
IPART chairman Peter Boxall said the council's application was assessed against the NSW Government's published criteria. Submissions received directly from ratepayers, community groups, business groups and ratepayer associations were also considered.
Average residential rates would increase by $41 in 2015-16, business rates by $98, and farmland rates by $64 if the full rise is applied.
IPART noted that Blue Mountains City Council had a hardship policy to help ratepayers with payment difficulties. The council has committed to reviewing that policy to see if it can provide further assistance.
Blue Mountains City Council was one of 22 councils that made an application for a special variation of the 152 councils in NSW, Dr Boxall said. "We approved 21 applications in full and one application was partially approved."
Council at its meeting last week agreed to call an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, June 2, to consider the decision. The mayor, Mark Greenhill, made the recommendation for a public meeting.
"Give the community the chance to come along [to the meeting], to contact us, get in touch, make their views known one more time," he said.
Clr Brendan Luchetti said the fact that 22 councils had applied for a rate variation showed that Blue Mountains was not alone in struggling to fund necessary services.
He also said that, historically, councils had been knocked back when seeking higher than standard rate rises - but not now.
"Thirty years of cost shifting and rate pegging has crippled local government. We are getting less and expected to do more, not just across the state but across the nation," he said.
News of the IPART decision was greeted with a mixture of anger and disbelief on the Gazette's Facebook page, with many critical of council's investment history and with deteriorating infrastructure. The special meeting will be on June 2 at 7.30pm in council chambers at Katoomba.
