Rates

Rates are levied by councils on homes and businesses. They provide income for essential services and infrastructure. Rates are exempt from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Rates can be paid either in full or quarterly.

Paying in full, your rates are due by 31 August each year.

Paying in quarterly instalments, rates are due:

  • 1st instalment: 31 August
  • 2nd instalment: 30 November
  • 3rd instalment: 28 February
  • 4th instalment: 31 May

If you have a general enquiry about rates, you can submit it online using Council's customer request management system.

External linkRates general enquiry

How are your rates and other income spent?

Every $100 collected is distributed as follow across a range of services.

  • Capital and major projects $30
  • Resource recovery planning and operations $12
  • Parks and streetscapes operations: $9
  • Children's services: $8
  • Sports and recreation: $7
  • Civil maintenance: $7
  • Libraries, history, community venues and centres: $5
  • Parking and ranger services: $4
  • Strategic planning and economic development: $3
  • Events, living arts, community wellbeing, social and cultural planning: $3
  • Facilities management: $2
  • Engineering services: $2
  • Development assessment: $2
  • Building certification, environmental health and building regulation: $2
  • Urban ecology and sustainability: $2
  • Urban forest: $1
  • Traffic and transport planning: $1

How are your rates calculated?

Land value (set by the NSW Valuer-General) × rate in the dollar (subject to minimum rate for Residential Ordinary, and Business General)

Your ad valorem has been adjusted with full harmonisation into a single rating structure starting 1 July 2023.

Domestic waste management charges

Your rates notice includes an annual domestic waste management (DWM) charge to Council to manage and collect residential waste. This is authorised under Section 496 of the Local Government Act 1993.

This charge funds Council's household recycling service, green waste service, garbage collection and disposal, clean-up service and lane cleaning. It includes landfill tipping fees, as well as the NSW Government Section 88 landfill levy which increases each year as part of the NSW Government's strategy to reduce landfill.

The following domestic waste management charges are current from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025:

  • Small garbage bin (less than 120 litres): $397.50 p.a.
  • Standard garbage bin (120 litres): $530.00 p.a.
  • Large garbage bin (240 litres): $795.00 p.a.
  • Vacant/availability: $265.00 p.a.

Note: Council has delegated the General Manager the authority to write off additional fees to increase the size of any existing red lid garbage bin, extra collections and weekly 120 litre red bin collections within the Domestic Waste Management service from the FOGO Food Recycling commencement date (from 9 October 2023), for a period of up to 2 years to allow households to transition to fortnightly garbage and FOGO.