Check your rates: Couple's warning after being overcharged for more than a decade
A disgruntled couple from the NSW south coast town of Kiama have slammed their local council after discovering they have been overcharged by around $8,000 for a rubbish bin they weren’t even using.
The couple, Kim and Geoff Oppert reached out to A Current Affair to warn other ratepayers to carefully check the fine print on their bills.
The pair had made the decision to downsize their red-lid general waste bin after their daughter moved out of the family home, which ideally would have lowered their rates.
Due to a mistake on their bills - clouded by legal jargon - the couple were paying twice as much for their red-lid garbage bin.
This meant Kiama Council had been charging them for TWO bins for the past 12 years.
"Look at your rates notice and check you're paying for just one bin," Mr Oppert told A Current Affair.
"Over 12 years we paid $16,000 in garbage waste disposal and it really should have been half that," he said.
"Our rate notice doesn't clearly say how many bins we have. It's bureaucratic speak no one could understand."
When the couple finally realised the mistake they went straight to the council.
"But they would only give us a refund for two years and quoted some tax act as the reason why," Mr Oppert explained.
"It is so unfair and just not right," Mrs Oppert added.
"It was their mistake not ours, and they admitted it.”
Mr Oppert seeks to warn all Australians paying a council for a bin service, "Check your rates notice and make sure you're not getting ripped off.”
Kiama Council were made aware of the situation and gave a partial refund to the couple.
"When this matter was brought to our attention, Kiama Council acted quickly to rectify the situation, in accordance with the law, as outlined below.”, a Kiama Municipal Council spokesperson said in a statement.
“We refunded the amounts of $805.72 for 2021-22 and $818.61 for 2022-23.
The couple have not received a full refund due to tax laws.
"The Office of Local Government has advised that, where charges go back more than 1 year, the Recovery of Imposts Tax Act 1963 applies as follows", the spokesperson continued.
"In addition, Kiama Council is now working on an audit of all our urban and residential waste services to ensure our charges are correct.
"Council reminds all ratepayers to check their bills and if anything is unclear, please get in touch with us to discuss, we are always happy to help."
Image credit: A Current Affair/Kiama Municipal Council