State Government announcement to increase Solid Waste Levy by 40%

On Tuesday 18 June the State Government handed down its 19/20 State Budget, and announced it will increase the Solid Waste Levy by 40%.

Statement from Mayor Angela Evans 

On Tuesday 18 June the State Government handed down its 19/20 State Budget, and announced it will increase the Solid Waste Levy by 40%.

As Mayor of the City of Charles Sturt, I have made a commitment to partner with and collaborate with the State Government to provide the best outcomes for the Charles Sturt community.

This commitment can be seen in our work together in protecting our beaches, constructing a connected shared use path along the coast, and partnering to adapt to the effects of climate change across our region.

Last week, the State Minister for Local Government the Hon Stephen Knoll MP represented the State Government in the media, inaccurately claiming rates were increasing above CPI. The Local Government Association, as well as councils across the state, provided real evidence to dispute these claims.

On Monday 10 June 2019, our City of Charles Sturt Council endorsed our final budget, the product of over six months of consultation with our community into what projects and services we would deliver within the community in 19/20.

Our rates increase to fund a budget which would deliver the final stage of the Port Road Drainage Flood Mitigation Project, create a regional play space and skatepark at St Clair Recreation Centre, continue construction of the new West Beach Rock Wall and provide services across five libraries and seven community centres was below CPI.

This year, we had forecast an average rate increase of 1.6% (below CPI just like the last three years of rate increases in Charles Sturt which have also been below CPI). Minister Knoll’s claim of rates increasing above CPI were untrue and disingenuous.

This week, the State Government announced the 40% Solid Waste Levy. This increased charges will cost SA communities an additional $8.5million this year. The levy being jacked up to $110 on July 1, 2019 and then to $140 on January 1, 2020, a massive 40% increase in 6 months.

From that time the Charles Sturt waste levy will be $3.8m annually. The State Government has raised the levy without consultation, at the death knell of the budgeting and rate setting process that is set out in the act. Done without warning, this sets our community up for an increase they didn’t need to have.

On Monday 24 June, the City of Charles Sturt Council will meet to discuss the Solid Waste Levy and the impact the increase will have on our community, and decide on how to proceed with our Annual Business Plan and Budget.

In the interim, I have written to Minister Knoll asking him to reflect on his previously stated desire to partner with Councils and ask that the government and the Minister for the environment David Speirs reflect on this increase and the way it has been imposed on councils and communities.