GRIFFITH CITY COUNCIL RECEIVES SPECIAL RATE VARIATION DETERMINATION

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has partially approved Griffith City Council’s Special Rate Variation (SRV) application to increase its general rate income above the rate peg for a two-year period and not the three-year as applied.
Council has been granted a 22.10% cumulative increase for 2024/25 and 2025/26 instead of a 34.9% cumulative increase over 3 years, as requested.
Griffith Mayor, Councillor Doug Curran said while this might not have been the overall outcome Council was hoping to achieve, it was still a positive one.
“IPART has highlighted that the Art Gallery Project compromised Council’s justification for additional rate revenue in 2026/27. I think it’s unfortunate that the third year was clouded by the potential art gallery, but we are two thirds of where we wanted to be,” he said.
“I want to thank the many Griffith residents who engaged with Council throughout this process. It just reinforces that we need people to come forward for the Community Strategic Plan (CSP) review that we are currently undertaking.
“We need everyone to tell us what services they want us to provide so we can plan further out.”
The draft budget for 2024/25 and Long-Term Financial Plan is based on approval of the SRV by IPART. Council will need to amend its Long-Term Financial Plan for 2026/27 and subsequent years by reducing projected rate income by approximately $1.5M per annum.
More information can be found on IPART’s website http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/