Councils are forging ahead with increases of up to 35 per cent to rubbish charges from next week despite the State Government's decision to postpone its 300 per cent landfill levy increase until January.

A survey yesterday found increases in annual rubbish refuse fees of between 11 and 35 per cent with Melville City Council charging households an extra $80 a year, which it attributed to the landfill levy rise.

WA Local Government Association president Bill Mitchell said Environment Minister Donna Faragher's decision this week to postpone the levy increase was unlikely to change the rubbish charges councils had set in their annual budgets.

He said metropolitan councils had spent the past month rejigging their budgets to accommodate the big rise after it was announced in the State Budget and any reprieve would be factored into 2010-11 budgets.

"The problem that councils have is they only have once a year to raise a levy," he said. "It's better for councils to cover that total cost than to secondguess the Government."

Mr Mitchell said he was concerned country councils, which had made no provisions in their budgets for a landfill levy increase, would be unable to cope if the Government decided to also impose the rise outside the metropolitan area.

After price increases of 25 per cent for electricity and 23 per cent for gas, households can expect rates rises of between 2.5 per cent and 9 per cent depending on their council, with most averaging 4 to 5 per cent, which sets the average household back $850 a year.

In Cambridge, rubbish charges are up 30 per cent to $260. Melville's will rise 34 per cent to $345 while Cockburn residents face a 21 per cent rise to $325. Gosnells, Subiaco, Joondalup and Belmont have increases under 15 per cent.

Perth and Belmont have the lowest rate increases at 2.5 per cent, with Peppermint Grove residents facing a 9 per cent rates rise.

Melville confirmed that delaying the landfill levy increase would not change its budget or rates rise but merely reduce the amount of funding it needed to draw from its refuse reserve fund and cushion any future impact on ratepayers.

WA Council of Social Services executive director Sue Ash said first homebuyers, who were already under mortgage stress, and people who rented would feel the impact.

BEATRICE THOMAS