MAV response to rate capping report
The Environment and Planning Standing Committee of the Victorian Parliament has released its second report on its Inquiry into Rate Capping.
There are six key findings and seven recommendations, which the MAV welcomes and supports.
These recommendations are a welcome first step, however the MAV believes further reforms will also be necessary to clarify the appropriate scope of the Essential Services Commission's role.
We will be reconvening our Rates Capping Taskforce in the near future to review the ESC variation decisions in detail and guide the next steps in our ongoing advocacy to the Minister. Of particular concern is the lack of practical guidance to assist councils in applying for a variation; the extensive and onerous information requests made by the ESC to councils; and the lack of weighting given by the ESC to the democratic decision-making which informed councils' variation applications.