By Luke Voogt
City Hall will again “screw” Geelong small businesses to make up revenue shortfalls, according to local store owners and investors.
The City flagged increasing commercial rates by 4.3 per cent in its proposed 2017/18 budget.
Belmont store owner Vince Albanese said his rates had more than doubled in the last five years.
“It was about $2600, now it’s $6125 without rubbish (collection). All they care about is how they can get their bottom-line increases.”
Mr Albanese, who was Belmont Business Association president for 10 years, said the suburb was struggling.
“You come to Belmont you’ll seven or eight shops closed now.”
But Mr Albanese said the latest rise was just one of many. “Four per cent sounds like nothing to what I copped this year.”
He added that the latest round of rates combined with “forever-going up” rents “finished a considerable amount of businesses in the Belmont area off”.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins introduced a cap on rate rises of 2 per cent for the 2017-18 financial year.
But Geelong investor Bill Votsaris said that meant the burden of budget shortfalls would fall on local business.
“People don’t understand that only applies to residential rates,” he said.
“All its done is allowed councils to shift the rates increases from residential to businesses.
“It’s still allowing councils to increase their revenues as much as they want to.
“The rates are out of control and the services are dwindling.”
Mr Votsaris said local businesses payed “four times” the rates of other municipalities.
“Geelong has one of the highest commercial rates in all of Australia. Our starting point already is too high.”
Greater Geelong needed to consider commercial rates if it was serious about local employment, Mr Votsaris said.
City Hall finance director Joanne Moloney said these matters had been raised through the budget submission process.
Geelong’s Administrators will hear the submissions and discuss them at the Budget Submission Panel Hearing meeting next Tuesday, 30 May.
