The Palaszczuk Government should push the date of the introduction of its new waste levy to 1 July 2019 to allow local councils to be better prepared to reduce its impact on Queensland households.
The Local Government Association of Queensland has warned that some councils will simply not be able to build or properly fund the new infrastructure required to administer the levy if the Government presses on with its proposed levy start date of 4 March 2019.
LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said the Government gave no warning that it would introduce the levy mid financial year, meaning that many councils had not factored its impact into their budgets.
“A lot of councils will not be able to fund the necessary infrastructure like new weighbridges out of their existing budgets so it will be hard for them to meet the Premier’s commitment the levy will have no financial impact on households,” Mr Hallam said.
“We urge the Government to push the levy start date to 1 July to coincide with a new financial year.”
Mr Hallam said a levy start delay to 1 July would also make it reasonable for the Government to introduce the levy at a rate of $75 a tonne for municipal solid waste rather than the $70 a tonne planned and then review the rate after 12 months of operation.