Rates hike hits Latrobe Municipality farmers hard

Tasmanian farmers on the north west coast are being slugged with council rate increases far higher than is acceptable. 

TasFarmers members around Sassafras have reported rate increases between 15% and 30%. Two farmers in the Latrobe Municipality have seen mammoth increases; one cropping farmer has seen his family farm’s rate leap from approximately $7,500 in 2024/25 to around $10,500 for the 2025/26 financial year.

“These council rate increases are outrageous and unsustainable,” said TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman.

“While councils are quick to announce lower rises for residential property, they fail to disclose their corresponding huge impost on farmers.

“There can be no real justification for these increases to farmers – on what basis can Latrobe Council rationalise announcing a 6.6% increase, but then charge over 15% to the primary production sector?

“For our productive farmers who invest and employ locals, a rise between a 15% and 30% increase is beyond comprehension and places further financial risk into their businesses,” said Mr Calman.

Tasmanian farmers are increasingly frustrated at the scale of increases in their rates and the disparity across the state in how final rates demands are calculated. At a time when agriculture is under extreme pressure from overseas imports and the impact of the USA tariffs redirecting trade into Australia, farmers can’t continue to absorb these increases.

“Farmers need this financial pressure to be eased as there will soon come a time when they can no longer afford to pay what is being demanded with little or nothing in return,” said Mr Calman.

“If we truly want agriculture to continue as the bedrock of our regional economies, councils need to drastically rethink how they calculate rates to farming properties”, Mr Calman concluded.