Council rates are a property tax and are not a fee for service. As rates are a tax, the rates you pay may not directly relate to the services you use or have access to.

Council can only collect the amount of money required to provide services and infrastructure in their annual budget. Each ratepayer contributes based on their relative property valuation. We calculate rates for each rateable property by multiplying the value of the property (Capital Value as assessed by the State Valuer General) by the ‘rate in the dollar’ and adding the fixed charge component.

There are different types of ‘rate in the dollar’ and they depend on the type of land use. The ‘rate in the dollar’ figures for 2023/24 are outlined below:

Council also imposes a fixed charge against each rateable assessment to ensure all ratepayers contribute to basic services at a reasonable level. In 2023/24 the fixed charge continues to be set at $400

In 2023/24 the Council’s forecasted average residential rates (excluding CWMS, Waste Management and Landscape Levy) for the average rateable assessment with a Capital Value of $328,479 as follows;

2023/24 RPC Residential Average            $1,168

2022/23 RPC Residential Average            $1,076

2023/24 RPC average dollar value of rate increase for residential properties $92.56

2023/24 RPC average percentage rate increase for residential properties      7.88%

In 2023/24 Capital Valuation growth, as determined by the State Valuer General, has been substantially higher than anticipated across the Council. As such, Council have decreased the rate in the dollar across all Land Uses to combat this high valuation growth and have been conscious of not over recovering revenue from ratepayers.

Further information can be found on the Understanding the 2023/24 Property Valuations Fact Sheet