Waste rebate approved for pensioners
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In a win for local pensioners, Blue Mountains City Council endorsed a Domestic Waste Rebate at the Council Meeting on Tuesday 28 April.
The newly approved rebate will provide an additional $20 per year, starting 1 July 2020, and increasing to $60 per year over 3 years.
Council already offsets waste and general rate fees for eligible pensioners, with an existing annual rebate of $250.
“We know that pensioners generally produce less waste than the average household and it’s been a while since the current waste rebate has been reviewed,” Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said.
“I’m pleased that we can improve on what is already being done. This is a meaningful change - we have over 6,000 pensioners in our area, so that’s a lot of people who will benefit from this improvement.”
The rebate will be funded by the Domestic Waste Charge, payable by all Blue Mountains ratepayers. This rebate will increase the Domestic Waste charge by approximately $3.74 in the first year, increasing to approximately $11.22 by the third year.
Council has written to the State government requesting that their contribution to the pension rate rebate scheme be increased.