By VANESSA CHIRCOP
HOBSONS Bay residents will have to wait another week to know exactly how much their rates will be increased by, with the council next week expected to approve the 2012-2013 budget.
As previously reported by Star, residents could face an average rate hike of 6.3 per cent. With the values of property in Hobsons Bay’s increasing, some residents fear this hike may be more than they can afford.
Every two years a revaluation of rateable properties in every council is conducted. Hobsons Bay has seen an overall increase of 5.6 per cent in property values.
Residential valuations have increased by 6 per cent, vacant land by 8.1 per cent, commercial by 6.6 per cent, industrial by 1.7 per cent and petro chemical by 4.3 per cent.
And while the council welcomed the increases, it may directly affect the degree at which a property’s rates will be increased by.
Despite this, the council said the revaluation process will result in a “redistribution of the rate burden across all properties” in the area.
Williamstown resident Dorothy Page said she wasn’t surprised by the proposed rate increase.
“Almost in living memory, I can’t remember a year in which we haven’t had a rate rise,” she said.
“I’ve been living in this house for about 40 years, and it’s an old house which will most likely be demolished when I leave it, because it has got a really great view.
“My rates are very high and I’m now retired.”
Ms Page said though she had a superannuation and was living quite comfortably, there were many Williamstown pensioners who were just struggling to get by week by week.
“I’ve seen a lot of older people have to effectively leave the area because they can no longer afford to live in the fairly modest houses they have spent most of their lives in,” Ms Page said.
“I am paying more than $2000 a year in rates.
“People who have lived here their entire lives and have contributed to the community in various ways … it’s a bit to adjust to when you’re living on a fixed income.
“For someone who is living on a pension, I don’t know how they would afford to live here.”
