For the past 5 years Council has had to maintain two rating systems being the former Hurstville and Kogarah councils. Council has developed a new rating system for Georges River Council whereby rates are consistent across the entire Local Government Area. This new rates structure comes into effect on 30 July 2021 and will support a fair, equitable and consistent rating system.
For more information, visit the New Rates 2021 page.
 
Council’s rating system and valuation changes are the main factors that will determine what happens to rates on an individual property. A general revaluation by the Valuer-General may result in the value of some land increasing or decreasing by more than other land. Where this happens the rates burden will shift.
For more information, visit the Land valuations and How rates are calculated and spent pages.

 

Each Council is required to determine the combination of rates, charges, fees and pricing policies needed to fund the services it provides to the community. This is called a Revenue Policy (available within the Delivery Program and Operational Plan).

The Revenue Policy contains a rating structure that determines which rates and charges you will have to pay and how they will be calculated. Charges are generally determined on an annual basis (1 July to 30 June the following year).

Visit Council's Rating Categories page.

Under the Local Government Act 1993, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) sets the total amount of income that a council can raise from rates and therefore the amount that a council can increase rates each year, in line with inflation and other considerations.

Each year the NSW State Government through the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) approves a maximum percentage increase in the total income a council can receive from rates (known as rate pegging), thereby limiting the amount of income a council can charge for rates each year. Because of rate pegging, a council's overall rates income is capped, and cannot increase by more than the approved percentage increase.

The rate peg does not apply to stormwater, waste collection, water and sewerage charges. The rate peg applies to Council’s total allowable rates income and not to each individual property owner’s rates, so an individual ratepayer’s actual increase may be above this amount, particularly if there are new valuations in use for the first time or if Council is required to catch up rates lost in previous years due to valuation objections.

If overall land values rise, councils may have to reduce or otherwise adjust the amount of rates levied per dollar so that total income does not grow by more than the approved percentage increase.​

Councils can apply to IPART for additional increases in general income above the annual rate peg increase (known as a Special Rate Variation or SRV). Councils may seek a special rate variation in order to undertake environmental works, fund town improvements, redevelop community and civic facilities, address maintenance backlogs and maintain or improve existing service provision. Under the Act, councils may apply for a temporary or permanent single year increase under section 508(2), or a multi-year increase (of between two and seven years) under section 508A.

These SRV applications are assessed by IPART against criteria listed in the Office of Local Government’s Guidelines. These include undertaking long term financial planning, ensuring community awareness of the need and extent of the proposed increase in rates, and consideration of the impact on ratepayers. In addition, councils must meet criteria related to productivity improvements. If a SRV application is approved, IPART determines Council’s final percentage increase.

For 2020-21, the Rate Peg has been set at 2.6%.

IPART determines the rate peg that will apply to all councils for the year using a Local Government Cost Index (LGCI). The Index assists in calculating the operational costs of councils in New South Wales.

The rate peg percentage is calculated by subtracting a determined productivity factor for councils from the Local Government Cost Index.

Further details about the methodology IPART uses to determine the rate peg can be found on IPART’s website.​

Yes. Rate pegging applies to a council's overall general income and not to rates on individual properties. Within rate pegging, it is possible for some rates to increase by more than the rate peg limit, while other rates may increase by less than the rate peg limit. In some cases, rates may decrease from the previous year. A council's rating structure and valuation changes are the main factors that determine what happens to rates on an individual property. Rating structures may change significantly from year to year.​ A general revaluation by the Valuer-General may result in the value of some land in a council area increasing or decreasing by more than other land. Where this happens the rates burden will shift. Councils may decide to vary rating structures from year to year to compensate for this.​

No. Only ordinary rates are subject to rate pegging. Rates and charges for waste management, water, sewerage and stormwater are not subject to rate pegging.

Even though certain rates and charges are not subject to rate pegging, councils are still required to provide details in their draft operational plan and related draft revenue policy of what they are proposing to charge. Councils must consider submissions from the public before adopting the proposed rates and charges.

Annual charges for domestic waste management services and stormwater must be calculated to reflect the reasonable cost of providing those services to the community.

Council continues to evaluate the impact of rates and seeks to ensure the system we use to calculate rates is the most equitable for the whole LGA.

Every year, before the final amounts are fixed for the new rating year (1 July to 30 June), Council prepares a draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan that includes their proposed revenue policy for the following year. This document must include details of all rates and charges that the council is proposing to levy on ratepayers. The Draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan is then placed on public exhibition around April or May for 28 days. The exhibition period is an opportunity for you to review and comment via a submission regarding the rates, charges and fees proposed by Council. You are encouraged to take this opportunity to view the documents while on exhibition and if you have concerns, make a formal submission to ensure your feedback can be considered. Council must consider any submissions by the public before adopting the plan.

Following the exhibition period, all public submission will be considered and reported to the Ordinary Meeting of Council scheduled in June when the Delivery Program Operational Plan will be adopted and the rates set for the upcoming rating year. Once the rates and charges have been adopted for a particular rating year, they cannot be changed until the next year.