Rates up in NSW?

RATEPAYERS across NSW face rate hikes of up to 13.5 per cent - almost four times what the law allows - so cash-strapped councils can fix roads, dump garbage and build footpaths. A Daily Telegraph investigation has found more than 30 councils across NSW are planning to beg Local Government Minister Barbara Perry to let them raise rates past the pegged 3.5 per cent.

Mayors say budgets have reached crunch point as they struggle to cope with cost-shifting by state and federal governments. Camden City Council, on Sydney's south western fringe, is planning one of the biggest rate rises in the state - 12.25 per cent.

Already, 29 NSW councils have applied for a special rate variation through the Department of Local Government before going to Ms Perry for a determination. Shires Association of NSW president Bruce Miller called for the "obsolete" rate pegging scheme to be scrapped.