Council Rate Relief For Bushfire Victims

Jul 27, 2021
Cost of living

11 property owners in Mangrove Mountain, Spencer and the surrounding areas are continuing to receive post-bushfire financial assistance from the NSW Government.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said the NSW Government will cover the cost of Council rates for bushfire-impacted property owners.

“The most heavily-impacted property owners have already had their Council rates paid for by the Government over the past year and I’m pleased this will continue for six more months,” Mr Crouch said.

“This will cover the second half of the 2020-21 rates period, and recognises that some property owners are still in the process of recovering and rebuilding.

“Thousands of properties were impacted on the South Coast compared to just a handful on the Central Coast, but it’s important that no one in our region slips through the cracks.”

Minister for Local Government and Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock said the extension comes after more than $5.2 million in rate relief has already been provided to over 3,300 property owners to reduce the financial burden as they rebuild their lives.

“We’re encouraged by the positive feedback and response we’ve had to helping NSW property owners affected by the 2019-20 bushfires, so much so that we’re considering an additional six months of relief,” Mrs Hancock said.

The rate relief is in addition to $75,000 primary producer grants and $10,000 or $50,000 grants for impacted small businesses.

To date, the Central Coast region has received a total of $31.6 million in bushfire relief and recovery funding from the NSW and Australian Governments.