A slight rate increase is coming at Perth Meadows Retirement homes.
North Perth Council received the 2018 rates and budget at the meeting last night, and Director of Finance Frances Hale says the rate increases are necessary for cost reasons.
"It's all relative to the operational costs that we have, so therefore we just want to keep pace and make sure that the operational costs are being covered. So we need a 5% increase for the townhomes and a 2.5% increase on the suites at this time," says Hale.
Hale also explains that while the budget for this year is $0, reserve funding will be used to offset costs, and the homes will eventually pay for themselves.
"Ultimately it's going to be a self-funding adventure, we're just not there yet. We do have four available units in the suites, but they're going fast," says Hale. "We started off the year with a few more, and they're filling quickly."
Hale says about $12,000 will be used from reserve funding to help offset some costs for Perth Meadows this year, but they aren't far off from being self-sufficient in terms of expenses.