{"id":640997,"date":"2026-04-30T17:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T17:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640997\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T17:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T17:30:14","slug":"darwin-lord-mayor-defends-proposed-5-5-per-cent-rates-rise-but-no-new-major-projects-on-the-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640997\/","title":{"rendered":"Darwin lord mayor defends proposed 5.5 per cent rates rise but no new major projects on the cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darwin council has defended a 5.5 per cent rates hike as part of its upcoming budget despite not offering any significant major new projects for the city.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed budget, single-dwelling households would pay an extra $105 in the 2026-2027 financial year.<\/p>\n

Council is also proposing a 4 per cent increase in kerbside rubbish collection fees.<\/p>\n

The plan marks the first budget for lord mayor Peter Styles, who recently rebuffed concerns that the council’s investment in a new $150 million high-rise civic centre would affect its finances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Launching the proposal on Thursday, Mr Styles said the council had prioritised stormwater system upgrades and roadworks, and defended raising rates above the current inflation rate of 4.6 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

The council’s budget includes $4.5 million for stormwater upgrades and $3.55 million for roads.\u00a0 (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

“We’ve got $1.4 billion worth of assets we need to maintain,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve kept the increase as low as possible so that we can actually maintain those assets.<\/p>\n

“I think [people] will agree that we had to do this.”<\/p>\n

Mr Styles acknowledged mounting cost-of-living pressures on households, but said the council was also grappling with rising expenses, and a large damage bill in the wake of recent cyclones and extreme weather.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got costs that we can’t control either,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We need to repair damage so that things maintain their value.<\/p>\n

“More than 130 billion litres of water move through our stormwater system each day, an asset that supports daily life, protects homes and businesses, and keeps our city functioning during the wet season.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Darwin City Council chief executive Simone Saunders says the rates rise equates to an increase of just over $2 a week for single dwelling properties.\u00a0 (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

Chief executive Simone Saunders said the council was now contending with the effects of last year’s 2.5 per cent rates rise, which she said left some assets without necessary maintenance.<\/p>\n

“With the lower rate increase last year, we’re finding that some of those essential renewal of assets that weren’t done last year, they need to be done now,” she said.<\/p>\n

She said under the new budget, there has been no reduction in services.<\/p>\n

“Elected members were really concerned about [making sure there were no] reduced services, whether that be sponsorships, community programs, the fun bus, a whole range of activities \u2014 they’ve managed to maintain everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“What it means though for residents is, $2.02 per week is the average rate increase that they’ll see, which equates to $105 a year.”<\/p>\n

The draft budget allocates $3.55 million for road resurfacing and pothole repairs, $4.4 million for stormwater upgrades and reconstruction and $31.92 million for waste management.<\/p>\n

Darwin council coffers ‘not at all’ impacted by high-rise spend, mayor says<\/a><\/p>\n

A future landmark of Darwin’s CBD is extending skyward, as senior Darwin council figures rebuff concerns from within council that its finances could be affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also includes $2 million for sport, $5.3 million for libraries and $10 million for park maintenance.<\/p>\n

Residents can have their say on the proposal until Wednesday, May 20.<\/p>\n

To read a copy of the draft plan and have your say, visit engage.darwin.nt.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darwin council has defended a 5.5 per cent rates hike as part of its upcoming budget despite not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[310351,64,63,99,2610,310350,2150,185500,8867,207649,14825,310352],"class_list":["post-640997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-5-5-per-cent","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-darwin-city-council","tag-hike","tag-lord-mayor","tag-northern-territory","tag-potholes","tag-rates","tag-storm-water-drains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}