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Tonight Hawkesbury City Council voted to proceed with a Special Rate Variation (SRV) based on “Option 3” from its business paper, choosing a four year rate rise that was not the option put to residents during the consultation.
The SRV was carried 7–4. Councillors Sheather, McMahon, Kotlash, Lyons-Buckett, Reardon, Ryan and Wheeler voted in favour. Councillors Creed, Djuric, Veigal and Zamprogno opposed the motion.
Cr Creed moved an amendment to defer any SRV until at least 2026–27 and to require Council to properly explore all other options before bringing back a rate rise.
Cr Creed’s amendment would have stopped Council from applying for a Special Rate Variation in 2026/27 and instead forced a full financial clean up first. It called for a comprehensive spending review, a new rating structure based on capacity to pay and “horizontal equity”, a tougher hardship policy, updated modelling that includes savings from the Windsor sewerage divestment, a clearer capital works priority list, and new revenue from fees, commercial leases, developer contributions, better use of Council property, grants and extractive industries. Staff would then report back in July 2026 with an updated long term financial plan, revised rating options and at least three SRV scenarios for 2027/28, and Council would write to residents explaining the delay and its promise to find savings and efficiencies before any future rate rise.
Crs Djuric, Veigal and Zamprogno supported that amendment, but it was defeated, the the main opposing argument that council staff had already explored all avenues for cost saving and delaying the SRV would simply increase the backlog.
The adopted “Option 3” model applies an average increase of 8.66% per year for four years from 2026–27. Over the life of the SRV that adds up to a 39.4% increase in Council’s general rate income.
By contrast, if Council stayed with the state rate peg, the increases would be 3.1% in 2026–27 and 3.9% in each of the following three years. That path delivers roughly half the cumulative revenue growth compared with the SRV.
For the average residential ratepayer, Council’s own figures show the typical bill going from $1,737 to $1,831 in 2026–27 under Option 3. That is $94 a year more than sticking with the peg, or about $1.80 a week. By 2028–29, the gap between the SRV and the peg grows to $286 a year, a premium of just over 15%.
This is not what residents were originally asked about. The material sent to ratepayers, and the independent phone survey, framed the choice as either the rate peg only, or a three year SRV of 11.73% per year that also produced a 39.4% cumulative increase, but over a shorter period. The four year “Option 3” that passed tonight emerged later from internal modelling and did not appear on the consultation form.
Community sentiment was clear. The engagement summary describes residents as largely unsupportive of a rate rise, with many submissions calling for Council to cut costs, improve financial management and find other revenue sources before lifting rates. In the independent survey, around 70% of respondents preferred the rate peg only option, even after being told that rejecting the SRV could mean cuts to services.
Despite that, a majority of councillors have now backed a permanent four year SRV that delivers the full 39.4% increase, stretched over a slightly longer time frame than the original three year proposal. The Hawkesbury Gazette will be watching closely as Council prepares its application to IPART and as households start to factor these decisions into already tight budgets.
