Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has voted unanimously to implement a 20% rates rebate for retirement village residents in the 2025–26 financial year — following the removal of a long-standing discount that previously reduced rates for thousands of pensioners and retirees.
The rebate replaces a structural 20% valuation discount that had been applied to certain retirement village units for years. That discount was removed after the Valuer-General Victoria (VGV) directed contract valuers to apply full market values, triggering steep rate hikes across more than 2,500 units in 15 villages.
Council officers initially recommended a 10% rebate to ease the transition. Deputy Mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro, responding to community concern, proposed increasing it to 15%. But Cr David Gill successfully moved an amendment to lift the figure to the full 20%, restoring parity with the previous discount in dollar terms — albeit via a different mechanism.
“If we’re going to support our residents, let’s do it properly,” Cr Gill said.
“We’ve just funded $500,000 for law enforcement cameras and $200,000 for tourism marketing. If we can afford that, we can afford this — for our large retirement village population.”
Gill’s amendment was seconded by Cr Max Patten and passed unanimously.
Cr Pingiaro, who had visited Beleura Village in Mornington and heard firsthand from impacted residents, supported the amendment — but not without taking aim at Cr David Gill and Cr Kate Roper.
“Residents first came to me asking for 18%, so I’ve supported higher relief from the beginning,” he said. “I’m surprised Cr Gill is now supporting 20%, given he initially proposed deferring the decision. But here we are.”
The final rebate will apply only to the general rates component, not fixed charges like the waste service fee. The cost of the rebate is estimated at $460,000, which councillors say can be absorbed within the Shire’s projected $5 million surplus.
Cr Roper supported the rebate increase, calling it a “goodwill gesture” but warned of its budgetary impact:
“It won’t be passed on to ratepayers, but it does affect our operating budget. That’s just the reality.”
Mayor Cr Anthony Marsh acknowledged that the former discount should have been formalised through a differential rate years earlier and commended residents for self-funding their roads, lighting, gardens and facilities.
The final motion also includes:
- A commitment to review the rating treatment of retirement villages in the 2025–26 Rating Strategy Review, including the option of a differential rate; and
- A resolution to petition the State Government to increase the pensioner rebate cap, currently fixed at $266.
“This is a slap in the face,” said Darren Lewis, whose father lives at Beleura Village. “Council is cutting support to the very people who built this community, while claiming it aligns with their ‘wellbeing plan’. It’s out of touch.”
Though the rebate matches the former discount in value, it remains a temporary one-year measure — and its future will now depend on next year’s strategy review.
Will Council deliver a permanent solution for retirement village residents — or is this just a pause in the pressure?
