Hawkesbury residents are paying lower rates on average than residents in similar Local Government Areas, according to a new State Government website.
While residential rates went up 1.4 per cent from 2016/17 to 2017/18, the yourcouncil.nsw.gov.au website - created by the Office Of Local Government - showed Hawkesbury residents still paid nearly $300 per year less than the average of other councils within their group.
In 2017/18, average residential ordinary rates in the Hawkesbury were $1094.80 per year, compared to a group average of $1,357.32, the website stated.
The groups are based on the Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG), determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The Office of Local Government has also classified councils by type into large rural, metropolitan, metropolitan fringe, regional town/city and rural.
In effect, this means the councils were initially determined by whether they were urban or rural, and then by population size and density.
Farmland rates in the Hawkesbury are slightly lower than the average at $2,750.50 per year, compared to the group average of $2,893.16.
But Hawkesbury businesses are paying above the average with the average ordinary business rate locally coming in at $6,029.20 per annum compared to the group average of $4,276.19.
A total of 71 per cent of Hawkesbury City Council's income is obtained via rates, annual charges, and user fees and charges - classified as "own source revenue" - compared to the group average of 70 per cent.
Other figures revealed online show that in 2017/18, Hawkesbury City Council spent:
- $156.75 per capita on governance and administration (group average: $143.11)
- $73.53 per capita on public order, safety and health (group average $83.75)
- $134.73 per capita on water and sewer services ($67.36)
- $262.30 per capita on environmental expenditure, including waste ($364.24)
- $198 per capita on roads, bridges and footpaths ($259)
- $48,000 on councillor expenses ($35,000)
- $312,000 total mayoral and councillor fees ($271,500)
- $32,015 on mayoral and councillor conference expenses ($18,539)
The website was launched earlier this month and provides a snapshot of all councils across the state, examining their finances, assets, services and community leadership.
