State government fees and charges will rise by 2.5% from July 1, in line with the movement in Brisbane's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the year to March 31.
Some of the more significant fees and charges that are CPI indexed include:
- motor vehicle registration fees
- drivers licence fees
- fire levy
- community ambulance cover levy
- electricity charges.
Defending the move, Treasurer Terry Mackenroth says that while he accepts some people may not like these small increases, it is "clearly preferable" to imposing larger periodic increases that people endured under previous administrations.
"The annual indexation of fees and services is important in order to keep pace with the increasing cost of funding services," he says.
Proposed changes to fees and charges will be tabled in Parliament in June, with the increases to take effect from July 1.