Council to Give Pensioners $1.8m Rates Windfall

Eligible pensioners are to receive a share of more than $1.8m in rate rebates after Coffs Harbour City Council agreed once again to provide voluntary reductions on Domestic Waste charges and the Environmental Levy for 2021-2022.

“Council is providing these voluntary extra rebates at a cost of $656,000, on top of its $1.23m share of mandatory rebates for Ordinary rates and water and sewer charges – a total of $1.866m,” said Coffs Harbour Mayor, Councillor Denise Knight.

“The voluntary Domestic Waste charge rebate works out to around $530,000 and the Environmental Levy at $126,000.

“Pensioners who are eligible for the voluntary rebates will again benefit enormously from this measure, with an average cut of about $87.50 per year on the amount they pay for the Domestic Waste charge alone, plus $23.53 on the Environmental Levy.

“This means that the average pensioner will get a reduction of around $500 off their rates bill – $111 of which is made up of Council’s voluntary contributions.”

All NSW councils are obliged to provide a mandatory 50% rebate to eligible pensioners for certain rates and charges up to a maximum cap of $250 in total.

But in most instances, the cap means pensioners would not receive any rebate on their Domestic Waste charges and/or the Environmental Levy.

As a result, Council has been providing voluntary pensioner rate rebates for these costs since 1997.

In addition, Council has a Financial Hardship Policy for ratepayers who may face genuine financial hardship.