The battle of the garbage bin bills is heating up with Blue Mountains residents taking to Channel Nine’s A Current Affair on Thursday [February 17] to air their grievances.
In a segment titled “We’re wheely mad” several residents complained about years of overcharging by Blue Mountains Council for their garbage bins. Many have been charged for two or three services instead of one.
The issue came to the fore when the new green bins were delivered and older garbage and recycling bins were replaced last year. Many of these residents received multiple new bins, which led them to examine their rates bills more closely. Council will only reimburse a fraction of the cost, citing its policy of only refunding up to two years of charges which, it points out, is a year more than required by law.
The residents raised the matter with the Gazette last year and Greens Councillor Kerry Brown called for a report at the December meeting into the overcharging.
There are 37 claims of overcharging, totaling about $118,000.
One resident has taken it up with the Ombudsman without success, and a legal class action has also been discussed. Staff are compiling the requested report and investigating the feasibility of reimbursing the residents and what mechanisms there are to prevent overcharging in the future.
Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill expects council will need to put more money towards compensating the residents, which means all residents will cough up for the mistake.
“This is their money and their due. It may well mean that other ratepayers have to pay, in fact that’s what has to happen.”
This is their money and their due. It may well mean that other ratepayers have to pay, in fact that’s what has to happen.
- Mayor Mark Greenhill
Cr Brown said she was “pleased the mayor is supporting full repayment”.
“The error was council's and it was nearly impossible to identify on the rates bills. Most overcharging started ten to 25 years ago, so repaying only two years is clearly unfair. Council should not have opted to repay $2m of our debt to the big financial institutions before repaying this direct debt to ratepayers."
At the next meeting on February 28, councillors are expected to vote on a proposal to add $4 to ratepayers bills to cover the mix-up. Overcharged ratepayers are expected to attend.
