Griffith Council’s Special Rate Variation Request Partially Approved

Griffith Council’s application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to increase its general rate income above the rate peg has been partially approved.

Instead of the three-year period they requested, the approval is for a two-year period.

Council has been granted a 22.10 per cent cumulative increase for 2024/25 and 2025/26 instead of a 34.9 per cent over three years.

Griffith Mayor Doug Currant said while it might not have been the overall outcome Council had hoped to achieve, it was still a positive one.

“IPART has highlighted that the Art Gallery Project compromised Council’s justification for additional revenue in 2026/27,” Mayor Curran said.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the third year was clouded by the potential art gallery, but we are two-thirds of where we want to be.

“I want to thank the many Griffith residents who engaged with Council throughout this process.

“It just reinforces that we need people to come forward for the Community Strategic Plan (CSP) review that we are currently undertaking.

“We need everyone to tell us what services they want us to provide so we can plan further out.”

The draft Budget for 2024/25 and long-term financial plan is based on approval of the SRV by IPART.

Council will need to amend its long-term financial plan for 2026/27 and subsequent years by reducing projected rate income by approximately $1.5 million per annum.

More information can be found on IPART’s website at http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/.

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