Devil in the detail of Bass Coast’s rate relief strategy

THE Bass Coast Shire Council is proposing to give its farmers a better deal on next year’s rates, at this Wednesday’s council meeting, by cutting a hefty $556,000 off the almost $4 million it collected from the shire’s 1002 farm assessments in 2025-26.

But before tearing the top off a tinnie in celebration, you’ll probably want to read the fine print.

Council currently provides up to $675,000 to eligible farmers annually through its Rural Land Management Rebate (RLMR) program, which rewards farmers for undertaking weed control and eradication, protection and enhancement of remnant vegetation, control and reversal of soil erosion, pest animal control and the like.

However, should council vote to adopt the recommendations made in its Rating Strategy 2026 review, it’s by no means certain they’ll stump up the cash again.

Instead, the RLMR will be subjected to the rigours of the annual budget process, reformed “to ensure alignment with Council Plan objectives to deliver enhanced biodiversity and natural asset protection that targets high-value conservation work”.

Whatever that means in practice.

Bass Coast VFF Branch President, Peter Miller, told the Sentinel-Times this week that his members wanted to see the land management rebate stay as is.

“They can talk about biolinks and all the rest, but if you take a look around the rural parts of the shire, and see all the shelter belts and other trees that have been planted, and the work done to combat weeds and pest animals, I think you’d have to say that the Land Management Rebate is working pretty well,” said Mr Miller.

“With what the farmers are adding to these projects themselves, the shire is getting exceptional bang for their buck in terms of good environmental outcomes.

“There’s going to be winners and losers no matter what they do but it’s hard to comment until you see what they do with the rebate,” he said.

Council has also broadened what was initially a review of farm rates and is proposing a range of other measures impacting other classes of ratepayers.

Chief among them is a proposal to increase the take from the shire’s 2619 owners of undeveloped residential land, assessed as ‘Vacant Land’, by slapping on a whopping $1.448 million more in rates or an increase of 31.1% over the $4.656 million they collected last year, to $6.104 million next year.

Council has justified the proposed increase as “a widely used policy lever to encourage development” but may offer short-term relief for first-home buyers, giving them the opportunity to apply for a two-year exemption from the increase.

The increase in Vacant Land rates will cover the cost of the farm differential and then some.

Council is also proposing a 20 per cent Waste Charge rebate for eligible pensioners who hold Centrelink or Veteran Affairs Pension Concession Cards.

This will provide approximately $123 per year to over 2000 pensioner households and cost other residential ratepayers approximately $22 per year.