Council
11 September, 2025
Council calls to halt waste levy increase
CORANGAMITE Shire Council will call for a halt to the increase of the State Government’s Municipal and Industrial Waste Levy at the Municipal Association Victoria (MAV)’s next meeting.
Councillors recently voted to take the motion to the MAV October 10 meeting, which also calls for a review of the terms of the levy and a return of the levy to the municipalities which pay it.
The motion also asks MAV to write to the Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos to develop the details of the review.
In the recommendation, manager governance and civic support Kathryn Anderson highlighted the rationale of the motion, saying the levy had increased by 27 per cent on July 1 this year.
“For rural areas, the municipal levy increases from $66.30 to $84.78/tonnes and industrial waste increases from $116.76 to $149.33 per tonne,” she said.
“Council transfer station and landfill base fees increased only by a CPI of 2.5 per cent to cover costs of providing the service, but the levy increase means overall fees will increase by around 10-14 per cent.
“Only a small portion of the levy contributions come back to local government for waste management, recycling and sustainability support via the Sustainability Fund.
“This year, Corangamite Shire Council alone will pay around $4 million into the Municipal and Industrial Waste Levy Trust which is worth $601 million in the State Government’s 2025-2026 Budget.
“Council asserts this fund should not be used to accumulate excess funds to prop up the State Budget at a time when Victorians are battling with the cost-of-living crisis, lost income due to drought and the substantial increases from the introduction of the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund levy.”
Councillor Jamie Vogels moved the motion, saying the increase was “out of control”.
“While the smallest fraction comes back to council out of this, our residents are paying $20 for a trailer load of waste – that’s just in charges,” he said.
“Our communities are doing it tough – this levy should support local sustainability through various programs that we’d like to get underway to increase our sustainability.
“It shouldn’t be there just to prop up the State Government bottom line.”
Councillor Jo Beard seconded the motion, saying a number of municipalities are experiencing the same issues as the Corangamite Shire with the levy.
“The biggest thing I’ve always been saying is we know we have to pay this levy to the State Government, but how about we see some of it back here,” she said.
“That was one of the main things I really wanted to see in our motion to the MAV because I have no doubt other municipalities would be thinking exactly the same as us.
“We’ve had enough of it – it’s not sustainable for us to keep putting in and not getting anything back in return, particularly when we look at our council plan and the expectations that we have from our community now of being better when it comes to looking after our environment.
“We can’t do that without funding.”
The motion was carried unanimously.