Council rates set to rise by 10pc

INDUSTRIAL and commercial property owners are set to receive a 10 per cent hike in council rates next financial year because their businesses cause more damage to the city’s infrastructure.
The 2006/07 draft Greater Dandenong budget intends to reap over $24.5 million from the city’s industrial and commercial land.
A large chunk of that will come from industrial land, which under the proposed budget will amount to $18 million. The commercial sector will pay almost $6.5 million in rates.
Greater Dandenong CEO Carl Wulff said the city had differential rates, with residential property owners receiving a 6.5 per cent increase and the industrial and commercial land owners receiving a 10 per cent increase. He said this was due to the large stress placed on the city’s infrastructure by businesses, particularly manufacturers, who use large trucks along the city’s streets.
“The commercial and industrial sector creates more damage to infrastructure,” he said.
“So lots of improvements are done independent of the (residential) community.”
But Mr Wulff added that while the rate seemed significantly higher than residential, it was a tax-deductible item for businesses. “It is a cost of doing business,” he said.