Blue Mountains City Council

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Payment of Your Rates

Learn More About Rating

Payment Options

NOTE: A 1% transaction fee will be applied to all credit card payments

Easier for you

Cheaper for the Council

The easiest way for you to pay your rates – and the cheapest for the Council to administer. Transfer funds from your pre-registered bank, building society or credit union account weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly. To register, download the Direct Debit form at right or call the Council’s Revenue section on 4780 5000.

COUNCIL WEBSITE

Credit card payment (MasterCard or Visa) can be made at the right.

MAIL

Blue Mountains City Council

Locked Bag 1005

KATOOMBA NSW 2780

PERSONAL PAYMENTS

Payments can be made in person, on weekdays, at the Council’s Customer Centres at either Katoomba or Springwood:

• 2-6 Civic Place, Katoomba – 8.30am to 5.00pm
• 104 Macquarie Road, Springwood – 9.00am to 5.00pm

BPAY

AUSTRALIA POST

Option 1 - In person at any Australia Post branch (cash, cheque, debit card, MasterCard or Visa). Please present your complete bill.

When are Rates Due?

Issued rates notices are based on information current at the time of processing so it is important that all ratepayers ensure that their details are up-to-date. Any payments made during the time allocated for printing will not be shown on the notice.

NOTE: If you have not received your rates notice within two-three weeks of an instalment date, please call the Council’s Revenue section on (02)4780 5000 immediately.

Rates Concessions for Pensioners

If you have a current Pensioner Concession Card (PCC Card) you may be eligible for a pensioner concession which will reduce your rates. You may also be eligible if you are a current Veterans' Affairs Pension recipient, depending on the type of benefit you receive.

Please contact the Council Rate’s section on 4780 5000 to discuss your eligibility and obtain an application form. Alternatively, download the application form at right.

If you have become an eligible pensioner since the issue of your last rates notice, the concession will apply proportionately to the number of full quarters remaining in the financial year.

NOTE: Rebate applications must be returned in person to the Council either at Springwood or Katoomba Customer Centres. Please ensure that you bring your Pensioner Concession or Veterans’ Affairs Pension card along when lodging your form so that it can be sighted by the Customer Service representative who assists you.

For information on eligibility for a pension, please visit Centrelink at www.centrelink.gov.au or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs at www.dva.gov.au.

What Happens if I do not Pay My Rates?

Rate amounts not received by the due date are subject to daily interest charges in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993. The interest rate is set by IPART and for 2011-2012 it is 11% per annum.

If rates remain unpaid, the Council may take legal action to recover these unpaid rates.

The debt recovery for all unpaid rates and charges is undertaken by the Council’s mercantile agency, Recoveries & Reconstruction (Aust) Pty Ltd. This includes the reminder letter sent to ratepayers after the payment date has passed (this service is provided to the Council by R&R free of charge) and the commencement of legal action in the Local Court.

Extensions of Time to Pay

If required, an extension of time may be granted for the payment of rates. If you are unable to pay any instalment in full by the due date, please contact the Council’s Revenue section on 4780 5000 at least one week prior to the due date to discuss a mutually acceptable payment arrangement.

Arrangements to Pay

The Council recognises that at times some people may have difficulty paying their rates.

While the Council is not permitted under the Local Government Act 1993 to waive rates, it may agree to enter into an arrangement whereby outstanding rates are covered by periodic payments.

For Residential and Farmland ratepayers who experience permanent financial hardship, the Council’s Hardship Relief Policy may also provide rate relief.

To find out more, please contact the Council’s Revenue section on (02)4780 5000 to discuss this in depth and to request the relevant application form.

Ratepayers are also encouraged to pay their rates by weekly, fortnightly or monthly contributions as a way of budgeting. Average rates charges can be budgeted for by paying a set amount per week, per fortnight or per month, eliminating a large quarterly charge.

Periodical payments can be arranged through Council via a direct debit authority (download the Rates Direct Debit Form at right). This is Council’s preferred method of payment as it is easy for ratepayers and is the cheapest payment method for the Council to administer. Similar arrangements can also be made with most financial institutions or by using BPay. For more information, please call the Council’s Revenue section on (02)4780 5000.

COUNCIL'S PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD 

Easier for you

Cheaper for the Council

How do I Change my Mailing Address?

If you change your mailing address, please notify the Council immediately in writing so that it can update this important information.

You can use the Change of Address Notification Form which can be downloaded from the right or notify the Council in the following ways:

What are Rates?

Rates are charges levied by councils on land within its local government area.

Councils are required by law to charge rates in order to provide essential services to local communities in order to maintain an acceptable standard of living.

For 2011-2012 rates will contribute to approximately 48% of the Council’s total income – making it a very important revenue source. The balance of the Council’s income comes from user charges and grants.

How are Rates Applied?

In determining rates for the City, the Council must consider the following three essential elements of a rating structure:

• Residential ie. land used for domestic purposes;
• Business ie. land used for commercial or industrial purposes;
• Farmland ie. land used for farming for profit (whether or not a profit is actually made);
• Mining ie. land used for coal or metalliferous mines.

• Residential – where land is:

1. within a centre of population; or
2. rural residential land (must be between 2 & 40 hectares and have a dwelling);

• Farmland – according to intensity of land use, irrigability of land or economic factors affecting land;
• Business – according to a centre of activity.

 NOTE: It is not mandatory to have a rural residential sub-category.

• Ad valorem (rate in the dollar) only;
• Ad valorem and minimum rate amounts; or
• Base amount and ad valorem.

Rate Pegging

For many years now, NSW State Government legislation has limited annual increases to rates revenue for all NSW councils. This is known as “rate pegging” and NSW is the only Australian state to have it.

Each year, on behalf of the State Government, IPART determines the annual percentage increase that councils can apply to their previous year’s rates revenue. For 2011-2012 the rate peg increase was 2.6%. The rate peg increase for 2012-2013 will be 3.6%

As the rate peg applies to the Council’s total rates revenue, and not to the rates of an individual property, rates on an individual property may not increase by exactly the rate peg. In other words, your rates for 2012-2013 may not be exactly 3.6% higher than rates for this year. This is because the actual amount of rates that you will pay is also dependant on factors such as the total number of rateable properties for the year and the number of properties within each rating category.

Land Valuations and Revaluations

The 2011-2012 rates have been levied based on land valuations issued by the NSW Department of Lands (Valuer General) in January 2011 (Base Date 1 July 2010).

Revaluations are required by legislation and are received by the Council every three to four years.

The Valuer General determines the value of unimproved land (ie. land only, with no dwellings, buildings or other improvements) by investigating the sale prices of similar parcels of land in each area, taking into account the zoning of the land, its subdivision potential and the location, topography or landscape of the area.

NOTE: If you believe that the value of your land has been calculated incorrectly, an application for review can be made to the office of the Valuer General, Department of Lands on 1800 110 038. All objections must be made on the approved Department of Lands form within 60 days of receiving the valuation advice.

Special Rates/Special Variations to Rates

With approval from the Minister for Local Government, all councils have the ability to levy special rates on various towns throughout their local government area specific works that benefit those towns or to increase rates across the whole area to fund works which benefit all ratepayers.

Currently the Blue Mountains Council does not levy any special rates, though it has following approved special variations which are included in your rates and charges:

• Emergency Services Annual Charge – this commenced in 1996-1997 and is unique to the Blue Mountains as the City is located in an at-risk landscape which requires higher levels of emergency service capability and response readiness than other local government areas. The Council charges this under Section 501(1) of the Local Government Act 1993 and Regulation 125 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005. This charge is a flat rate for all properties, regardless of land value and is itemised separately on the annual rates and charges notice.
• Environmental Levy – this is a 10 year special variation to rates which commenced in 2005-2006. It enables the Council to allocate $1.2 million annually (adjusted each year for rate pegging) to fund environmental works and services as a long-term initiative to regenerate, repair and improve the local environment. The levy is included in the ad-valorem amount used to calculate rates.
• Asset Renewal & Maintenance Special Variation – this is a three year variation to rates which commenced in 2010-2011. Its purpose is to fund renewal and maintenance of some of the City’s $640 million worth of facilities and infrastructure, many of which are ageing and in need of repair. It is also included in the ad valorem amount used to calculate rates.

Calculating Rates & Charges

Calculation example: a property in Katoomba with a land value of $200,000 and ad valorem rate of 0.00468075:

NOTE: Please refer to Section 4 – Financial Information of this year’s Operational Plan for the exact ad valorem rate for your townships.

* ad valorem rate means “rate in the dollar”

** for eg. domestic waste service charges, Emergency Services Annual Charge.

Charges for 2011-2012

NOTE: All charges are exempt from GST

Other General Rating Information

Postponed Rates: If you live in a single dwelling on land that could be subdivided or developed, the rateable value of your land may be greater than the average for a single dwelling. If this is the case, you may be able to postpone payment of part of your rates. Please call the Council's Revenue section on (02)4780 5000 for further information and an application form.

Categorisation: The Local Government Act 1993 requires all land to be categorised according to its use. The four categories are Farmland, Residential, Business and Mining. If you disagree with the category, or the use of the land has changed, please contact the Council’s Revenue section immediately. Staff will advise you on how the category may be reviewed, or how to lodge an appeal.

Mixed Development: A property may qualify for rating as Mixed Development under Section 518B of the Local Government Act 1993 if it is used for both Residential and Business purposes. The owner of the property must apply to the Valuer General for a "Mixed Development" valuation.

Non-Rateable Properties: A property may be non-rateable if it belongs to, and is used in relation to the activities carried out by, churches, schools, public hospitals, charities or public institutions or as otherwise provided for in Sections 555 and 556 of the Local Government Act 1993.

Valuer General: The Department of Lands, NSW is responsible for determining land values on behalf of the Valuer General. If you wish to find out more, visit the Department of Lands website:  

www.lpma.nsw.gov.au.

Explanation of Rating Terminology

Assessment: The rates and charges applied to an individual, rateable parcel of land.

Ad Valorem: 'In proportion to the value'. In rating, the ad valorem amount is calculated as the number of cents charged for every dollar of unimproved land value.

Arrears: Amounts not paid by the due dates which are carried over to the next payment period. Delayed payment attracts an interest charge of 11% per annum.

Minimum rate: The minimum amount of rates payable on any assessment. Minimum rates are applicable when the value of the property, once multiplied by the ad valorem amount, ends up being less than or equal to the actual minimum charge.