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From today Dubbo households have been hit with a price rise for the essentials that is more than double the NSW average.
As the new financial year crept up so did the annual cost of living, which could see the average Dubbo household paying up to $692 more in 2010/2011. This contrasts with an increase of $330 for the average NSW home.
Driving the increases are across-the-board surges in the price of water, electricity, garbage collection and other utilities.
For Dubbo ratepayers the largest rise was delivered via Dubbo City Council’s decision to increase water charges by up to 63 per cent.
The average household will now pay an extra $274 per year after council increased both user fees and the access charge.
A total average water bill will now be about $581.
This has been compounded by Country Energy’s decision to lift electricity prices by 13 per cent. For the average customer this means an extra $183 per year.
Gas users will be better off but customers of Origin Energy still face $49 a year more for their bills on average.
Meanwhile the Keneally Government has added a motor vehicle weight charge costing between $5 and $30 extra a year for cars weighing more than 975kg. The levy was brought in to pay for the Government’s $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport Plan.
The Opposition has labelled the plan “Sydney-centric” and said the tax was insulting to regional drivers.
While it has not revealed its plans yet the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority is expected to increase the cost of vehicle fees such as registration, licensing and fines.
On the rise was a $97 increase in council’s domestic waste charge, a $35 increase in its sewerage service charge while its general rates will be $22 more for most Dubbo households.
If property speculation is your game then buying a home worth more than $500,000 will attract a new fee from today after the NSW Government introduced an ad valorem tax.
Properties costing between $500,000 and $1 million will attract an extra 0.2 per cent charge.
But as most things go up there a few items on the way down.
The new home stamp duty has been scrapped for properties under $600,000, meaning savings of up to $5,623.
Payroll tax will be slashed while the Federal Government’s third round of tax cuts in three years will see the average income earner on $65,000 paying about $400 less a year.