As if the cost-of-living pressures weren't enough for this Aussie city’s residents, there's a new financial hurdle on the horizon that could further strain household budgets.

A local council has announced plans to increase its ‘bin tax’, a move that has left many residents feeling frustrated and financially stretched.

In the City of Yarra, a local council in Melbourne, the bin tax—introduced just a year ago—currently charges residents an additional $115 on top of their council rates for kerbside rubbish bin collection.

However, draft budget documents for 2024-2025 indicated that this fee is set to rise by an average of 30 per cent next year.

This substantial hike sparked criticism, with some accusing the Greens-led council of circumventing rate caps through this separate levy.

The City of Yarra in Melbourne is raising its kerbside bin collection fee, adding financial pressure on residents. Credits: Shutterstock

Rate caps, as set by Victoria's Local Government Minister Melissa Horne, restrict councils from increasing their rates by more than 2.75 per cent in a single year.

However, by separating the bin tax from the general rates, councils like the City of Yarra can bypass these limitations and impose higher charges on residents.

Independent councillor Stephen Jolly expressed his surprise at the proposed increase, especially given the proximity to the upcoming October elections.

‘By separating the bin tax, you immediately aren't subject to the rate cap, so they can jack it up exponentially,’ he commented, highlighting the loophole that allows for such significant increases.

The Yarra City Council justified the increase by linking it to the costs associated with introducing a fourth kerbside collection bin.

This new lime green-lidded 120-litre bin is designed for the collection of food and garden organic materials (FOGO) and has been rolled out to approximately 44,000 households, with the first collection scheduled for July 1.

‘The state government requires all councils to introduce a FOGO service by 2030,’ a council spokesperson explained.

‘The council has worked hard to keep the cost of implementing and delivering the FOGO service as low as possible without compromising the quality or efficiency of the service.’

While other councils have also introduced waste levies, their increases are modest in comparison.

For example, the City of Port Philip raised its levy by 2.7 per cent, and the City of Hobsons Bay by 7.5 per cent.

However, a recent Council Watch investigation revealed that more than half of Victoria's 79 councils are adding 'fake' costs to their waste levies to support their bottom lines, with the funds being used for other services such as street sweeping and graffiti removal.

This practice drew criticism from Minister Horne, who released guidelines in December 2023, stating some councils were not using ‘best practice’ for the fees and that this ‘eroded public transparency and trust in local government’.

As Australians grapple with rising living costs, the City of Yarra's increase on the controversial ‘bin tax’ in Melbourne sparked outrage and concern among residents.

This move reflects a broader trend of increasing expenses faced by many households across the country.

With millions of Australians feeling the financial strain, the impact of such policies is felt deeply by those already struggling to make ends meet.

As new bin charges hit households, including seniors on fixed incomes, many are left wondering how they will manage the additional financial burden.

Key Takeaways

• The City of Yarra in Melbourne is increasing its kerbside bin collection charge, which is adding financial pressure on residents.
• Critics argued that this tax hike is a way for the council to circumvent the rate cap imposed by the state government.
• The bin tax is rising by an average of 30 per cent, significantly higher than the allowed rate increase of 2.75 per cent.
• The raise in the bin tax is linked to the introduction of a new food and garden organics collection bin, but there are concerns that councils are using waste levies to cover costs unrelated to waste management.

Are you affected by this increase? What do you think about this change? Share your insights in the comments below.

 

[Ingot]

Voters!
You know what to do with the Greens.
Watermelons - Green on the outside, and red on the inside.

If it's one thing Australia does not need, it's more Marxism.
Albanese is enough.

If I hurt any Greens voters, I don't apologise.
They are responsible for more of the inflation and cost of living increases in this country than anyone else.

We need coal-fired plants, not these ridiculous windmils and solar farms.
Get real.
It's one thing to be recycling - I'm in favour.
But we have heard enough about recyclers piling up plastics, glass, cardboard.
Councils P-A-Y them to recycle these things, but instead they stockpile them, then declare bankruptcy.

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Australia's waste industry is being undermined by unscrupulous middle-men contracted to shift rubbish interstate to avoid paying landfill levies. Regulators and governments know about this practice but have repeatedly failed to act.

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[Reet]

Everyone seems to be adding charges these days. I bought groceries at Woolworths and as I didn/t have enough cash with me had to use my debit card. Then discovered they have charge me a fee for using it. Never had this happen on previous rare occasions.

 

[gordon1940]

It is a COMPOST bin! Fed up with wanker Council cretins destroying our language with idiotic acronyms like this stupid FOGO.
IT IS A COMPOST BIN!
Not Fear Of Going Out, Fear of Growing Old, not Fear Of “anything”.
This mis-use and scrambling of our language by Council wankers only serves to further confuse people as to what goes into which bin.
There is no need for these tin-pot, power-tripping, horrid little Council cretins to make life harder for everyone else by mucking around with our language. Gardeners across the globe know Compost.
Just call it what it is!! COMPOST!

Actually I think it is all “ Bull…t” !

 

[Rob44]

I once worked as a dust-bin man an awfully long time ago. Councils used to employ five blokes to do that job; a driver, a couple of lifters-of-bins-and-chuckers-of-rubbish-into-the-truck and two of us rolling out numerous bins by their lid-handles and rolling them back when they had been emptied. All that (our salaries and the truck and our very welcome 4.30pm to 5pm cuppa back at the Council yard) was included in the rates. Now it's one truck with a hydraulic lifting arm and one driver and lighter plastic, not steel, bins that does the job. The truck and driver AND the tip and profitable tip-shop is outsouced to two companies with adminstrators and CEOS and shareholders that pay the Council leasing fees and operate an expensive tip-shop and charges entry via a weighbridge if you want to drop off useless timber, old oil etc for recycling.

And now Councils impose "bin fees"? The bloody cheek of it!

 

[MaggieMay1948]

If rates don't cover bin collection, other than councillors' high life what does it pay for? Green waste is resold to ratepayers as compost etc, it is not a burden but a saviour so imo doesn't warrant an extra charge, but hey that's Councils for you, always looking for more, they already benefit from the trend of 2 or more to a block.

Exactly. Garbage bins and collections are one of the core responsibilities of local councils and are already and always have been, what our rates for. Ther should be NO additional charges in relation to garbage.

 

[scanning 43]

And get yourself a compost bin to create your own compost so your garden improves. Then tell the council that you do not need that bin & DEMAND the charge be removed from your rates bill. I have made my own compost for many years now & my vegie garden benefits greatly from it & so does my budget as I can grow a lot of my own vegies.

Like you I have been composting for many years. Why would I need another bin. As for the bin for glass, already take my waste glass to the receptical provided by the council. Many are to lazy to take advantage of these bins.

 

[My Daisy girl]

I truely believe the metro councils should be scrapped. They sit in there ivory towers working out how to rip more money out of residents. All services they provide could easily be done but seperate entities. Can anyone justify paying all these CEO's coo"s general managers managers of departments supervisor's of departments leading hands ect. To me it's shameful when a distribution of wealth could be stretched throughout all communities. To me councils build empires for exclusive and they generally are in place for people to move to real politics.