At its meeting on 29 June Council considered a report following community consultation and decided the following:

1. Note the outcomes of the public exhibition of Council’s draft key strategic Documents

2. Adopt a Rating Structure to harmonise rates as required by the NSW Government, over eight (8) years commencing 1 July 2021 including:

a) Reallocation of $600,000 of rate revenue from Business General category, to be evenly levied across the shopping mall subcategories;

b) 100% harmonisation of minimum rates as follows:

i. Residential minimum $850

ii. Business general minimum $820

3. Note that the budget includes a Domestic Waste Management Charge subsidy which will return $5.8M to ratepayers in 2021/22 and help to smooth out changes in rates caused by Rates Harmonisation;

4. Adopt the draft:

a) Revised Delivery Program 2018-22 year 4, and Operational Plan and Budget 2021-22;

b) Fees and Charges 2021-22;

c) Long Term Financial Plan 2021-31; and

d) General Rates Revenue Policy.

5. Increase the COVID Stimulus Package by an additional $1.3m from s.94 (s.11) funds for the purposes of delivering the Iron Cove Creek Masterplan ($100k) and additional footpath renewal ($1.2m);

6. Note that this budget has $3 090 000 for the planting of new trees council commits to an ongoing annual spend of no less $2 million to massively increase the number of trees in the Inner West;

7. Council notes the 30 submissions and the officer’s responses about further action in particular the transition to electric vehicles and “Climate” related proposals;

8. Exhibit a change to the fee for the ‘Pensioner Concession’ (to be renamed 'Social Security Recipient Concession' to apply to social security recipients including JobSeekers, DSP, etc) rate for all aquatic centres to the LPAC rate of $1.20. That Council officers bring a report back to Council on the implication of the fee change when the public exhibition has concluded;

9. Note the demand for increased investment in safe cycling infrastructure and prioritise this for future delivery plans;

10. Note the budget includes funding for traffic/ transport investigations/studies necessary to progress the Bicycle Strategy. Council to communicate with BUGs re relevant studies and investigations planned in their areas;

11. The annual training budget for the traffic and engineering team be increased to allow all relevant staff to develop their expertise in designing for pedestrians and bicycle riders; and

12. Note its previous resolutions that childcare fees should not be seen as a vehicle for budget repair, and it maintain childcare fees at the exhibited rate for the year to 30 June 2022 rather than seeking an increase from 1 Jan 2022.

For more information:

• Read item 33 in Council report
• View item 32 in meeting minutes