IF you live on a rural block and were lucky enough to choose a Liverpool location over Campbelltown, break out the champagne.
According to a newly released review of NSW councils, your Liverpool Council rates every year are $2,764, but if your home is on a rural block in Campbelltown you’d be forking out on average around $6,153 a year in council rates. Which is way more than double what Campbelltown’s neighbour charges.
Liverpol and Campbelltown are grouped together with another six councils of a similar size and location – on the fringe of the metropolitan area. They are Blue Mountains, Gosford, The Hills Shire, Hornsby, Penrith and Wyong.
The review, which was prepared by the Department of Local Government, was tabled at Campbelltown Council last week.
It states that the group average rates for ordinary farmland land is $2,542, making Campbelltown’s $6,153 quite high by comparison.
Liverpool and Campbelltown may charge different rates, but in a lot of ways they are very similar according to the figures of the review.
Their unemployment rates, for instance, were 7.9 per cent for Campbelltown and 6.3 per cent for Liverpool.
The average taxable income for both was very similar, $41,261 in Liverpool and $41,044 in Campbelltown.
In Campbelltown the average household size is 3.2 people, and in Liverpool 3.4, while manufacturing is the largest industry employer in both local government areas.
But Liverpool has more than 5,000 active businesses at 13,649, compared to 8,581 in the Campbelltown area.
And while rural residents in Campbelltown are hit hard with rates, ordinary ratepayers compare well with Liverpool; in Campbelltown the average rate is $845 and in Liverpool actually higher at $959.
And business people in Liverpool on average pay around $300 more in rates than their Campbelltown counterparts.
In Campbelltown ratepayers pay less for waste services at $280 on average, compared with $326 at Liverpool.
But on the other hand Liverpool spends more per capita on governance and administration ($295) than Campbelltown ($157), a marked difference.
And in Campbelltown 63 per cent of its companion animals are microchipped, compared to 49 per cent in Liverpool.
Finally, 74 per cent of Campbelltown residents have access to the internet at home, compared to 72 per cent in Liverpool.
