In adopting its Revenue Policy, council has also accepted the Special Rate Variation (SRV) approved by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) to support the development of key strategic community priorities. 

The new policy supports a number of initiatives in response to feedback received from the community during its public exhibition period, as well as the course of the engagement processes undertaken throughout the preparation of council’s application for an SRV. 

In response to community consultation and in recognition of the prolonged drought being experienced across the Upper Hunter – which has significantly worsened since the making of the SRV application, council has resolved not to pass on the approved SRV increase to the general farming category. 

In response to concerns raised during community consultation, council also resolved that residential ratepayers will pay only an additional 5 per cent of the 10 per cent approved real increase and the Pensioner Rebate will rise to completely offset the increase for pensioners. 

Council undertook a widespread review of its rating policy and considered a range of options to achieve a fair distribution of the rating burden. 

It also took the opportunity to review its obligations under state legislation – and particularly, its obligation to ensure that rates between categories and sub-categories were commensurate to the services required to be provided by council to the various rating categories and sub-categories. 

As part of that review, a number of new sub-categories have been determined, including energy generation, which will address an anomaly whereby the power generation industry paid considerably less rates than the mining industry, despite the significant impact that that industry has on the community’s infrastructure. 

As a matter of equity, underground mining will see a significant increase in its rating to bring it into parity with open cut mining. 

A new sub-category for farming land capable of being irrigated will be introduced to help ensure that the shire’s floodplains are being more intensively used. 

“When you drive along Denman Road, there is a real sense that the Hunter River floodplain is not being as intensively used as it might be,” Muswellbrook Shire mayor Martin Rush said.

“A lot of the land is tied up for secondary uses – particularly as mining buffer. 

“If the floodplain was being more intensively cropped for hay right now, the Upper Hunter would not be as reliant on inter-regional hay deliveries. 

“Our farmers are doing it tough and it’s sad not to see hay production occurring on our irrigable floodplains. 

“The new rating structure will provide additional incentive to owners of irrigable land to use it more intensively. 

“Other new farming sub-categories will provide greater incentive for mining buffer land and offsets to be used more intensively and minimise the sterilisation of land for mining related purposes.”

Cr Rush said council had tried its best to fairly distribute the rating burden. 

“There is clearly a case that energy producers and underground coal mines have been on a good wicket for some time in terms of the relative amounts they pay and our review has highlighted that anomaly and corrected for it,” he explained.

“The community has been very vocal in its position that farmers, pensioners and others struggling with day to day living expenses should be isolated as much as possible from the impact of the SRV and we accept that feedback.

“We think we’ve got it right and that the distribution of the rating burden across the shire is now much fairer. 

“It’s probably not perfect but we’re confident that it’s a great deal fairer than the present distribution. 

“It’s not, however, the end of the process and we’ll certainly review the rating structure in 12 months to ensure it’s working as intended.” 

The new rates will not yield additional rating revenue above the approved rate peg determined by IPART despite several submissions suggesting otherwise. 

The following projects will be funded by the SRV: 

* Improvements in stormwater management; 

* Upgrades to Muswellbrook’s Olympic Park sporting precinct; 

* A new Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre; 

* Additional support for job creation and economic diversification across the shire; and 

* The recovery of rating income lost as a consequence of the conversion of mining biodiversity offsets to voluntary conservation agreements. 

IPART approved the SRV for 12 months with an invitation to apply in March next year for the increase to become permanent.