Rate Adoption and Calculation

YOUR RATES – How does Council Set and Calculate Rates

Council rates are a system of taxation, much like income tax and GST, and Council determines how and where they are spent.

All councils in South Australia prepare an Annual Business Plan and Budget, which outlines the services, programs and infrastructure Council will deliver in the coming year.

When setting the annual business plan and budget, a council must balance the current needs and expectations of the community with what will be required in the future to achieve the best economic, environmental and community outcomes.

Council also needs to consider external pressures and increased costs, the amount of income available from rates, and property owners’ ability to pay rates.

In simple terms, calculating how much each property contributes to rates each year involves determining the total amount of income required to maintain infrastructure such as roads, footpaths, buildings, etc and provide services and dividing this across the total value of all rateable properties to establish a ‘rate in the dollar’. The value of each rateable property is then multiplied by the ‘rate in the dollar’ to calculate the rates contribution for that property.

General rates are raised on rateable properties and other charges are charged to properties who access (or have access to) specific services.

After Council has considered the amount of revenue needed, rates are calculated to equitably spread the collection of revenue across the community.

WHAT DO RATES PAY FOR:

Rates are not a fee for service, so the amount of rates paid by a person may not directly relate to the services they use. People may not use all of Council’s services all of the time, but they are there for everyone in the community when needed.

The range of programs and services councils provide to the community, and the infrastructure requirements, differ from council to council. For example, the Copper Coast Council has a mix of residential, commercial, industrial and rural properties, and is considered a ‘growth council’ where population is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead.

WILL MY RATES GO UP?

Not necessarily.

Any increase in expenditure from one year to another cannot simply be reduced to a single reason, such as the Consumer Price Index, not only because of the large range of services and programs provided by Council, but also because these services and programs are dynamic due to the ever-changing demand .

While growth results in more rates income being generated, the additional properties which are constructed (and the people that live in the new houses) also increase the need and expenditure related to infrastructure, services and programs which support these properties and residents.

Councils use property values as the basis for fairly distributing rates. More money is not automatically received because property values increase. While some people may pay more or less rates, this amount is dependent on any change in property value, relative to the overall valuation changes across the council area.

ADOPTION OF RATES

Council historically adopts the property valuations provided by the Office of the Valuer-General and the rates and charges, at the Council meeting in July each year.

GENERAL RATES

Fixed Charge

Council charges a Fixed Charge, to ensure all rateable properties pay a base amount to the cost of administering Council services (as shown on the rates notice).

Differential Rate

Council applies a ‘differential’ rate — multiplying the capital value of a property (as assessed by the Valuer General) on the basis of land use and location by the rate in the dollar (as shown on the rate notice).

SERVICE CHARGE

Council provides a Community Wastewater Management System (CWMS) to all land within the townships. Properties who are connected or have access to connect incur a service charge to support the ongoing operational costs and maintenance of the system (including desludging tanks every four years).

These charges are in accordance with the Code for Establishing and Applying Property Units as a Factor for the Imposition of Annual Service Charges for Community Wastewater Management Systems (available via Council’s website here) (Section 155 of the Local Government Act 1999 (Act) and Regulation 9A of the Local Government (General) Regulations 1999).

Note: Metropolitan Councils do not incur the cost of wastewater schemes on their rate notice, as it falls under the responsibility of SA Water who charge property owners direct on their water bill.

SEPARATE RATE

Council also applies separate rates on properties which may specifically benefit from a project or undertaking. Money raised by these means cannot be put to any other use and the separate rate must cease when the purpose has been completed and paid for.

The separate rates collected by Council include:

REGIONAL LANDSCAPE LEVY

The Regional Landscape (RL) levy is a State tax and paid by all ratepayers. Councils are required under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 to collect the levy on behalf of the State Government.

The levy helps to fund the operations of regional landscape boards who have responsibility for the management of the State’s natural resources, including regional landscape planning, water allocation planning, community capacity building, education and compliance activities.

For more information, view the Landscape Levy fact sheet, visit www.landscape.sa.gov.au/ny or contact the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board – phone (08) 8841 3444 or emailing ny.landscapeboard@sa.gov.au

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

All charges are clearly outlined in Council’s annually adopted Adoption of Valuation and Declaration of Rates and Rating Policy.

Further information about Council rates visit Local Government Association of South Australia – Fact Sheet 3 – About Council Rates, or contact the Rates Team on (08) 8828 1200 (option 5) or send an Email.