Tara Murray
Brimbank residents could receive a waiver of rates and charges in exceptional circumstances under changes to the council’s financial hardship policy.
The council voted at last week’s council meeting to change the existing policy which had been in place since February 2021, which didn’t allow for a waiver of the whole or part of any rates and charges raised annually.
The policy has been amended to allow for the waiver of rates and charges in exceptional circumstances to ensure it is consistent with the spirit of the local government act.
Under the new policy, a waiver on grounds of financial hardship will usually only be appropriate if a person’s particular circumstances make the payment of interest and/or rates and charges in full unfair or unjust in some way.
Their circumstances would need to distinguish their situation from that of the many other people who have to repay their debts.
Interest or rates and charges may be waived in those circumstances, while the council has the ability to have an annual budget waiver at budget time, where ratepayers with a concession card might receive a waiver.
The change comes after a Victorian Ombudsman’s ‘investigation into how local councils respond to ratepayers in financial hardship in 2021 concluded that a blanket refusal to consider applications on the grounds of financial hardship ‘cannot be justified’.
‘There are good grounds for arguing councils should waive rates rarely, but the parliament has given people the right to apply and applications should be considered on their merit,” the report found.
Councillor Victoria Borg said that many residents in Brimbank are in more financial stress than others.
“It’s important that we continue to review and amend accordingly,” she said.
“It’s sufficient to say COVID-19 and the detrimental effects are still very much with us.
“Uncertainty in all aspects of life has never been… so pronounced. As a local government, it’s important to continue to find ways and means in supporting the community.”
