The Burnie City Council wants the Local Government Association of Tasmania to lobby the State Government to change the pensioner rate remission scheme to make it easier for pensioners to claim the rebate sooner.
In a motion to be tabled at the next LGAT general meeting in Devonport on July 26th, the council says the current scheme only allows pensioners to claim the rebate if they have an eligible card issued before July 1st in the applicable financial year.
It means, for example, if a pensioner gets issued a card on July 2nd, then they have to wait almost 12 months to claim the rebate in the following year.
The motion also points out Tasmania is the only state in Australia which has the apparent anomaly in its pensioner rate remission scheme.
It says as is, the current Tasmanian scheme is depriving eligible pensioners the opportunity to claim rebates in excess of up to $500 or a part thereof in the first year.
