If you live in Brisbane City Council it may feel like more and more little fees are popping up where you least expect them and it’s becoming increasingly expensive to live in the area.
That’s because it is.
Every financial year, Council’s release their budgets with a few key lines they throw out to media. But it’s the little charges in the fine print that emerge in the following weeks and months that often catch people out by surprise. This year is no exception.
Brisbane City Council added a flyer with each recent rates notice stating that from July 1, residents will need to opt out online if they want to avoid receiving a $1.98 fee to continue to get a paper rates bill. The paper rates bill fee is expected to bring in an additional $2million to Council each year.
Some other Council’s and organisations also charge a fee for paper bills, but the majority offer an exemption for pensioners who seemingly do not want a bill via email.
Brisbane City Council does not currently offer that exemption.
The extra costs continue.
Council’s most recent Budget included a 3.8% rates rise as well as a 50% increase in the fee to pay those rates with a debit or credit card. Last year, 224,000 card payments were processed by Brisbane City Council.
When you go to bury a loved one, when you go to register your dog, when you start a small business or seek to build a house – the fees are rising.
Parking fines have also gone up.
Parking fines are calculated on a base “penalty unit”. As of July 1, 2024, the value of a penalty unit is $161.30, up from $154.80, and actual fines now range from $80 up to $645.
In the 2023-24 financial year, 170,677 parking fines worth $34.35 million were issued by Brisbane City Council, an increase from the 168,042 fines issued the previous year.
The fees are small, many are hidden, but they add up and Council’s reaping the rewards.
