Manjimup council approves rate increase of 3.9 per cent

Manjimup Shire council has adopted its 2024-25 budget that includes a 3.9 per cent rates hike. As part of the new budget, an average 3.9 per cent rise will impact residents, with the gross rental value being set at 9.01123 cents in the dollar, and unimproved value being set at 0.58543 cents in the dollar. Minimum rates are set at $1150 for both gross rental and unimproved values, while dam leases are set at $50 and grazing leases at $100. Fees and charges have risen 3 per cent, although there are exemptions with the Windy Harbour lease fees which will rise 3.4 per cent and waste collection charges will increase by 1.8 per cent. The shire’s total rates raised for the year will reach nearly $12 million, which shire president Donelle Buegge said will make up a third of the shire’s revenue for the year and will be used to maintain current services. “We will not be able to do anything extra, we will be able to maintain (current services) but barely,” she said. “The cost of everything else has gone up, (and) being able to do anything extra this year will be tough. “We will be relying on really good grant applications, which is two thirds of our funding Cr Buegge said the budget and rates discussions had been in the works for the past three months. “It starts off with a discussion of what people think is reasonable and it did start lower than that, and then we had to have a think about what we weren’t going to do,” she said. “We went through line by line, and if it was cutting things by a thousand or a couple thousand dollars, it added up in the end. “We’ve really been conscious of how difficult people are finding it. To say we were going to put our rates up by seven or 8 per cent, that’s not being conscious of what’s going on around us. “We just can’t do it.” Cr Buegge said the largest part of the budget was going towards road maintenance, with about 28 per cent of funds to be directed to the road network. She said uncontrollable rising costs, including staff salaries and insurance premiums, meant the shire had to look at how to better manage their departments and projects. Some towns like Quinninup will increase more than the average rate rise, due to revaluations of land being done, with Quinninup having its first in six years. Cr Buegge encouraged concerned community members to get in touch with the shire to ask questions, or set up an interest-free payment plan. “If anyone does have any concerns, please reach out to a councillor and they’ll be more than happy to walk you through it,” she said. “If anyone is in any financial hardship, we have organised a payment plan, which will not have interest on it. Please go to the shire office and talk about setting that up, because if you do not pay your instalments, you will get interest on it. “We understand if you are having a hard time paying rates, the last thing you need is to pay interest on top of that.”