2 June 2026
North Shore state MP Felicity Wilson has urged North Sydney councillors not to apply a 52.66% special rate variation in full after the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal approved the council’s application.
In a message to residents, Wilson said she was “deeply disappointed” by IPART’s decision to approve North Sydney Council’s special variation and minimum rate application.
The decision cleared the way for the council to increase its general income by 52.66% over three years from 2026-27 to 2028-29. IPART also approved an increase in minimum residential and business rates from $743.85 in 2025-26 to $1,216.79 by 2028-29.
“86% of residents who made submissions to IPART opposed this rate rise. That is an overwhelming verdict from our community, and it should have been heard,” Wilson said.
IPART’s report said it received 1047 responses to its feedback form and 251 submissions. Of the feedback form responses, 893 respondents, or 86%, opposed the proposed special variation, while 77 supported it and 73 partly supported it.
However, IPART said the feedback form was not statistically representative and that participants self-selected to provide feedback.
Wilson said the decision was “not the end of the road” because the council retained discretion over whether to apply the approved increase in full, apply it in part or not apply it at all.
“Your voice still matters — and our elected representatives should listen to our community,” she said.
IPART’s final report noted that its determination set the maximum increase in general income available to the council over the three years. It said the council could defer rate increases up to the maximum amount for up to 10 years and retained discretion over how it raised general income across rating categories.
Wilson argued that household budgets had come under further pressure since the council lodged its application, citing rising living costs, global instability and interest rate pressures.
“Council should be tightening their belts — just like the people they represent,” she said.
“I will be making clear to Council that the community has spoken and implore Councillors to take that into account as they make this next decision.”
IPART approved the special variation after finding that North Sydney Council had demonstrated financial need and met the Office of Local Government criteria for special variations. The tribunal said that without the increase the council’s operating performance ratio would average minus 2.5% over five years, while the approved increase would produce an average operating performance ratio of 8.1%.
It also said the council planned to allocate about 87% of additional special variation funds to capital expenditure to fund infrastructure renewals and help reduce a $157m infrastructure backlog.
The approval was subject to conditions requiring the council to use the additional income for the purposes outlined in its application and report annually from 2026-27 to 2033-34 on expenditure funded by the increase, outcomes achieved, productivity improvements and cost containment measures.