THE full effect of the carbon tax on Moorabool Council operations remains unknown, according to a former mayor.
With the tax to come into effect on Sunday, Cr Pat Toohey said the council had not provided enough clarity on the impact of the tax in its budget.
A recent council report stated there was “considerable uncertainty” about the precise cost of the tax, but it estimated waste disposal costs would increase by $160,000 and electricity costs by 10per cent, adding an extra $25,000 to the budget. The cost of garbage collection will rise from $11 to $93 per household, with about $9 related to the tax.
But there’s no increase in the waste management service charge ($83), and recycling fees have been slashed by almost 50per cent.
Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) president Bill McArthur said the council expenses could rise by only 0.8per cent, in line with CPI. “If all council cost increases were to be collected through rates, which is unlikely, it would result in a median 1.5per cent
increase, or around $22 a year or 42 cents a week,” he said.
A MAV survey of 38 councils revealed the estimated impact on council expenses would be as high as 1.9per cent, with a potential flow-on increase in rates of 1.5per cent on average.
Cr Toohey asked why Moorabool was including additional charges in its rates while other councils like Ballarat were not.
The Ballarat Courier reported last week that a Ballarat landfill site had been excluded from new costs as its emissions were not high enough to attract the levy.
“Our community have to pay because we’ve got a so-called big landfill; we have to pay,” Cr Toohey said, suggesting a move away from a Deer Park landfill site.
Ballarat Labor MP Catherine King said most councils would have no carbon price liability from landfills.
“The majority of landfills are too small to be covered,” she said.
