Cairns ratepayers continue to get value for money

An annual benchmarking exercise has revealed that Cairns ratepayers continue to pay some of the lowest rates and utility charges in the state when compared to similar local government areas.

Council has assessed itself against 12 other Queensland local government areas with populations of 100,000 people or more.

Benchmarking was carried out across three categories:

• A residential property (excluding strata and flats) paying the minimum rate – this represents 25% of residential properties in the Cairns Regional Council area;
• A residential property (excluding strata and flats) with the median valuation within its own local government area; and
• A strata title property paying the minimum rate – this represents 89% of strata title properties in the Cairns Regional Council area.

For the first time since Council started its benchmarking exercise in 2016, Cairns was not rated the lowest in all three categories.

Cairns remained lowest for residential property with the median valuation within its own local government area.

Townsville now has the lowest minimum for residential and strata by about $46 per annum. Cairns was the second lowest in this category.

Mayor Bob Manning said it was a great result when one considered the range of services and facilities Council provided.

“This exercise picks up all rates and charges levied in each of the local government areas to ensure we are comparing ‘apples with apples’,” Cr Manning said.

“To compare favourably against other large councils across the state, as well as those councils in our region, shows that Cairns ratepayers are getting good value for money.”

The local government areas included in the benchmarking exercise are Brisbane, Townsville, Mackay, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Gold Coast, Redlands, Logan, Moreton Bay, Toowoomba, Fraser Coast and for the first time Bundaberg.

Cr Manning said that the 2023/24 Budget focused on the renewal, upgrade and the provision of targeted infrastructure and set out a fiscally responsible plan to maintain service levels and absorb the impacts of rising costs as much as possible.

“Targeted investment in the suburbs and priority spending on critical infrastructure ensures Council is delivering value for money for Cairns ratepayers.”

The $433.5 million 2022/24 Budget included a $164.8 million capital works program, which builds on $1.5 billion of community infrastructure delivered by Council since 2012.