Six months on from its 87% rate rise rejection, how is North Sydney faring?

What’s the damage in North Sydney? 

When North Sydney Council asked residents to consider an 87 percent rate hike earlier this year, Mayor Zoë Baker warned of an impending “liquidity crisis” without the increase. 

Despite this, many residents rallied against the proposition, which while approved by council was later rejected by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.

So what does North Sydney’s crisis now look like?

Damaged assets: According to Mayor Zoë Baker, regular infrastructure renewal is one of the more visible areas where councils budget cuts have impacted: curbs, gutters and footpaths.

• “People are noticing that there are 14 bus stops that are either closed or in urgent need of structural repair”, Baker told the Lorikeet.

Other community assets that have encountered serious problems are Elizabeth Plaza, Forsyth Park Community Centre, and Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre, where ceilings have collapsed. 

Flooding at Stanton Library earlier this year is another example of the LGA’s ageing  infrastructure, while the library’s lift also nears the end of its usable life.

“The great unseen”: Less visible but degrading all the same, according to Baker, is the LGA’s stormwater system.

But the most significant impacts are those that won't be seen for years. 

• As expressed by Baker when seeking the controversial 87% increase, the move has as much to do with what council passes on to future generations as what it provides current residents.

The longer infrastructure renewal is delayed, the more problems will accrue. With dwellings and population in North Sydney both set to increase over the next 10 years, reliable infrastructure and public assets will be more important than ever. 

Whose fault is it anyway: If there was ever a single culprit for the dire financial straits North Sydney Council has waded into, most fingers would certainly point to the Olympic Pool redevelopment project. The laboured repairs and additional features have now ballooned $65 million dollars over budget. 

• Spearheaded by former Mayor Jilly Gibson, the project has been inherited by the current council, including Mayor Zoe Baker, who initially opposed the project.

But the problems North Sydney faces are also not unique to the metropolitan council. The impact of cost-shifting from the state government is felt across New South Wales, with more than a third of local councils operating in a deficit. 

• According to an independent report commissioned by Local Government NSW earlier this year, the average NSW ratepayer is paying $497 a year for services that should be already paid for by the state. 

• The report lists instances of cost shifting, such as levies for waste and emergency services, funding for public libraries, and landowners that are exempt from paying rates.

• “There's a broad acknowledgement that local government, more generally, not just in New South Wales … is facing a real crisis around financial sustainability” Baker said.

What now: As 2026 draws near, it will soon be time again for North Sydney Council to submit an application for a Special Rate Variation. 

This time increase options of 40% and 54% — both over a period of three years — have been put forward as options for public consultation.

Baker seemed confident that residents would accept the proposition, citing past community consultation. “The vast majority of North Sydney residents want to see maintenance or improvement on existing service levels” she told the Lorikeet. “They want to see the council assets in fair or good condition”.