Careful What You Wish For: Rate-Capping in Victorian Local Government

Drew, J; Dollery, B

Careful What You Wish For: Rate-Capping in Victorian Local Government

Drew, J

Dollery, B

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Australian Taxation, 2016, 17 (1), pp. 139 - 167
Issue Date:: 2016

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Drew, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3579-5758	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Dollery, B	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Australian Taxation, 2016, 17 (1), pp. 139 - 167	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1440-0405	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43483
dc.description.abstract	The new Victorian Government won the 2014 election on a platform to inter alia introduce a cap on council rates in all Victorian councils. This means that a rate-cap will be introduced beginning with the 2016/17 financial year, with future rises in rates pegged at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) after this date. This paper provides a comparative empirical analysis of New South Wales local government - the only Australian local government system to operate a rate-pegging regime - and Victorian local government with respect to rate-capping. We find evidence to support the proposition that rate-capping has deleterious effects on municipal revenue effort, equity, debt and infrastructure maintenance. Moreover, our findings do not provide empirical evidence in support of the claim that rate-capping increases municipal efficiency. The paper concludes by considering various alternative public policy instruments to rate-capping.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Australian Taxation	en_US
dc.title	Careful What You Wish For: Rate-Capping in Victorian Local Government	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	17	en_US
utslib.for	1801 Law	en_US
utslib.for	1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability	en_US
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/lnstitute for Public Policy and Governance
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - IPPG - Institute for Public Policy and Governance
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Accepted	en_US
pubs.volume	17	en_US

Abstract:

The new Victorian Government won the 2014 election on a platform to inter alia introduce a cap on council rates in all Victorian councils. This means that a rate-cap will be introduced beginning with the 2016/17 financial year, with future rises in rates pegged at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) after this date. This paper provides a comparative empirical analysis of New South Wales local government - the only Australian local government system to operate a rate-pegging regime - and Victorian local government with respect to rate-capping. We find evidence to support the proposition that rate-capping has deleterious effects on municipal revenue effort, equity, debt and infrastructure maintenance. Moreover, our findings do not provide empirical evidence in support of the claim that rate-capping increases municipal efficiency. The paper concludes by considering various alternative public policy instruments to rate-capping.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/43483