The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says evidence of some Victorian local government councils slugging huge rate rises on farmers shows the Victorian Government’s local government rate capping policy isn’t working.
VFF President Brett Hosking said farmers continue to get the raw end of the stick with rate capping failing to deter unfair rate hikes in some regions.
“We won’t stand idle and watch the burden of funding key services rely more and more on the agricultural sector. From rates, to the fundamentally wrong Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, farmers are wondering when the financial hits will stop.”
“Some farmers face increases in the tens of thousands of dollars with the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund and now have surging rates on top of it. We’ve got a reprieve with the fire services levy increases paused, but it’s still looming large and this rate rort is another kick in the guts.”
“When you’ve got one group of taxpayers in some cases facing double-digit rate increases and little to no increase for others in the same area, there can be no doubt the system is flawed.”
“We’ve long argued for the Victorian Government to require councils to apply the rate cap to each class of land to stop this mess,” Mr Hosking said.
Analysis from the VFF has revealed some of the biggest hikes facing farmers as per their draft budgets:
| Local Government | Change in average farm rates assessment (%) | Change in average residential rates assessment (%) |
| Melton City Council | 13.94 | -3.36 |
| Mitchell Shire (40-100 ha farmland) | 8.62 | 1.60 |
| Mornington Peninsula Shire | 6.14 | 3.66 |
Mr Hosking added rating models being used by the Ararat Rural City Council is the blueprint for the future.
“The fundamental principle should be that as the value of farmland increases, the differential rate is adjusted to reduce the rate in the dollar so that the rate burden paid by the farm sector remains stable. This approach has been applied with great effect in the Ararat Rural City Council,” Mr Hosking said.