We are reviewing the council’s stormwater charges
IPART is reviewing prices the Central Coast Council can charge its customers for water, wastewater and stormwater services from 1 July 2022.
We have released an Information Paper on stormwater drainage
This Information Paper is about stormwater drainage. IPART is considering whether to continue to set prices for drainage services supplied by the council as a Water Supply Authority, and if we don’t, how the council might fund these critical services in the future.
Stormwater activities include managing and maintaining the infrastructure that collects the rainwater from roads, parks and private land. It also includes improving the water quality of rivers, lagoons and beaches, and undertaking flood planning and mitigation. In the past, IPART has set maximum prices for drainage services supplied by Central Coast Council as a Water Supply Authority.
Central Coast Council currently levies an annual stormwater drainage charge on household and business customers in the declared drainage area within the council’s boundaries. (Find out if your household or business if located in an existing stormwater drainage area here (on page 28).
From 1 July 2022, Central Coast Council has proposed additional stormwater drainage costs and that more costs are shifted from its general fund (which is paid for through your local government rates), to its Water Supply Authority for which we set prices.
We think stormwater services should ideally be funded through local government rates
Our preliminary decision is that the council’s stormwater drainage services should be funded through local government rates, not through the stormwater drainage charges we set for the council as a Water Supply Authority. This would ensure that customers don’t potentially pay twice for stormwater services.
We also think funding stormwater charges through local government rates is more appropriate because stormwater services are more like a community service rather than a private service provided to specific customers. Stormwater drainage services protect the whole community from flooding and inundation with benefits to the natural environment. Everyone in the community benefits from stormwater drainage services.
Have your say on stormwater
IPART has sought feedback from the community about this proposal to fund stormwater services through local government rates. Thank you to everyone who completed our stormwater survey questions and provided feedback.
Our stormwater survey closed on 15 November 2021. We have published a summary of the survey results and the council’s submission
We will publish our draft decisions and draft prices for this review in our Draft Report which we will release in March 2022. We will consider all feedback when making our draft decisions for the Central Coast Council’s water prices to apply from 1 July 2022.
Please see our Information Paper for more information about stormwater drainage charges.