Mr. Templeman questions the Minister for Local Government regarding the communication and funding of the rate rebate cap for eligible seniors, particularly concerning the role of local councils and the Office of State Revenue. The Minister deflects responsibility to the Minister for Finance and the Office of State Revenue, emphasizing local government autonomy.

AnsweredQoN 5262Legislative Assembly
Asked
22 March 2016
Portfolio
Local Government

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Minister's Statement in estimates on the 10th June 2015 concerning the cap on the local government rates for eligible seniors and ask: (a) when will the Office of State Revenue announce the amount of the Rate Rebate Cap; (b) is the Minister aware that some councils have taken it upon themselves and at significant cost to themselves to notify affected ratepayers that a cap of $550 rebate will be applied to their rates for 2016/2017; (c) what measures is the Minister putting in place through the Department of Local Government and Communities or any other State Government Agency to advise affected rate payers of the cap on their pensioner rebate applied to their local government rates; and (d) if none or nothing to the answer above then: (i) does the Minister expect each Local Government Authority to fund the dissemination of the Rate Rebate Cap information to its affected rate payers; and (ii) if no to (i), will the Minister provide Local Government Authorities with explanatory information which they can include within rate notices as they are posted to rate payers similar to the information brochures provided explaining the Emergency Services Levy Charges implementation?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
10 May 2016
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
49 days
(a) This is a question for the Minister for Finance.
(b) Yes. This is a decision made by each local government.
(c) Communicating with local governments on this issue is being managed by the Office of State Revenue.
(d)
(i)  What local governments communicate to their ratepayers is a decision for each individual local government to make.
(ii) The provision of explanatory information is being handled by the Office of State Revenue.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more