Redland City keeps pensioner rebates at $335 as budget adopted

Redland City Council has kept its pensioner rebates at $335 a year for full pensioners and $167.50 for part-pensioners as it adopted its 2026-27 budget at a special meeting in the Council Chambers on Bloomfield Street, Cleveland, on 30 June.

The rebate sits inside a wider package that will take effect from 1 July 2026, with rates and utility charges rising across the city. In the Acting Mayor’s budget speech, the median general rate for a category 1A principal place of residence was put at about 5.47 per cent, or $1.64 a week, while commercial and industrial properties were said to rise by around 6.5 per cent.

The council’s revenue statement keeps the pensioner concession on the differential general rate for eligible ratepayers on the maximum pension rate and those on a part pension. The figures remain $335.00 and $167.50 for the 2026-27 financial year.

The budget also adopted an Environment and Coastal Management separate charge of $280.48 per property, up from $258.00, and a Landfill Remediation Separate Charge of $99.52 per rateable lot. A $6 annual Redland City Rural Fire Brigade separate charge will continue on all rateable properties.

Council also kept a farming concession for land used exclusively for primary production. Under that arrangement, it will remit all but one of each water fixed access charge, sewerage charge, separate charge and special charge that may be properly levied on eligible land parcels.

The budget papers also introduce new rating categories for shopping centres and retirement and lifestyle villages from 1 July. The Acting Mayor said the changes were needed for the ongoing fairness and sustainability of the rating system, while council dealt with cost pressures and waste levy impacts on households.

For pensioner households, the rebate remains unchanged for another year. For many other ratepayers, the first notices under the new rates and charges will arrive after the budget takes effect on 1 July.