Newcastle City Council has voted to increase rates to 8.6 % to help boost the council’s bottom line.
Council voted seven to five in favour of the plan, which now has to be approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal on June 6.
Council says a 5 % special rates variation, added to the allowable 3.6 % rate cap would be used to fund nine key civic projects and help balance the budget.
We’ll have more on this story in NBN News at six.
