Just a year after its introduction, an Australian council will increase the controversial ‘bin tax’.
The City of Yarra, in Melbourne, is charging residents an extra $115 on top of their council rates for the privilege of kerbside bin collection.
But draft budget documents for 2024-2025 say this will rise by a further 30 per cent on average next year, leading some to accuse the Greens-led council of using the tax to get around restrictions on tariff rates.
Under local government leader Melissa Horne’s rate caps, no council in Victoria can increase rates by more than 2.75 per cent in a single year.
Independent councilor Stephen Jolly said he was surprised at the amount the waste tax would increase, especially with the election just months away in October.
An Australian council plans to increase the controversial ‘bin tax’ just a year after it was introduced (stock image)
“By separating the waste tax, you’re not immediately subject to the rate cap, so they can increase it exponentially,” he said. The Herald Sun.
Yarra City Council said the increase was related to costs associated with introducing a fourth kerbside collection bin for around 44,000 households.
The new lime green 120 liter waste bin for the Collection of Organic Material from Food and Garden (FOGO) has been rolled out to residents this year with the first waste collection on July 1.
“The state government is requiring all councils to introduce a FOGO service by 2030,” a council spokesman said.
‘The council has worked hard to keep the costs of implementing and delivering the FOGO service as low as possible, without compromising the quality or efficiency of the service.’
The municipality will increase contributions by 30 percent, a blow to families already struggling with the cost of living crisis (stock image)
Other councils have also introduced waste charges, but their increases are small compared to the City of Port Philip, which increased theirs by 2.7 per cent, and the City of Hobons Bay by 7.5 per cent.
More than half of Victoria’s 79 councils are adding ‘fake’ charges to their waste charges to support their bottom line, according to a recent survey by Council Watch.
The money is then used for other municipal services, such as street sweeping, drain cleaning, graffiti removal and tree maintenance.
Guidance was released by Ms Horne in December last year, with the minister saying some councils were not using ‘best practice’ for fees and this was ‘undermining public transparency and confidence in local government’.