)
BRISBANE businesses will be forced to pay an extra 2 per cent in annual council rates due to the new tax on carbon.
Brisbane City Council (BCC) has confirmed that commercial property rates would jump by 2.6 per cent plus a 1.9 per cent surcharge due to the Federal Government’s Carbon Tax.
BCC’s $3.1 billion Budget for 2012/13 shows the combined average rate increase of 4.5 per cent equates to a rise of $13.63 per quarter or $1.05 a week. Without the Carbon Tax it would have been a $7.87 quarterly increase.
However, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk reveals the measure will maintain a clean and green city without surpassing the average 5.76 per cent rate increase.
“The Carbon Tax is Federal Labor’s gift to itself that will keep on giving, despite the successful efforts of Brisbane ratepayers to reduce their carbon footprint,” he says.
The Budget also includes $15.9 million in funding for economic development initiatives. The Lord Mayor’s 20-year Economic Development Plan aims to create 343,000 new jobs within 10 years and double the city’s economy to $217 billion within 20 years.
“Our city is at the hub of a global resources boom already worth $25 billion each year to our economy and the challenge for us is to maximise the economic return over the long term,” says Cr Quirk.
A further $3.6 million will be spent on reviewing and updating BCC’s City Plan for the next two years, encouraging ‘responsible’ urban growth.
Get our daily business news
Sign up to our free email news updates.
)
)
)
)
)
