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In This Section
The annual rates and charges notices are sent out each July.
The 2023/2024 2nd instalment notices were sent to ratepayers on 13 October 2023. The final day for payment of this instalment is Thursday 30 November 2023.
The 1st instalment was due to be paid on Thursday 31 August 2023.
Council provides a wide range of services to benefit our community.
These include managing and maintaining expensive infrastructure such as:
Council also provides other services including:
One of the ways Council provides these services is through our statutory power to charge rates. Rates account for the largest portion of Council funds.
Fees and charges, and grants from the federal and state governments make up the balance.
The Local Government Act 1993 requires Council to declare each parcel of rateable land to be categorised as either:
Council also has several subcategories that are determined by the dominant use of the land, for example:
A rating category is determined purely on the dominant current use of your property.
Categories do not change zonings, or permitted use or, create subdivision entitlements.
The Act is very specific on the requirements for each category.
Parcels of land that are unable to be categorised are placed in the default category of ‘Business’ in accordance with the Local Government Act, 1993.
Ratepayers can apply for a change of rating category by completing a change of category application form.
All applications are reviewed and processed in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993 and any changes made will be in accordance with the relevant sections of the Act.
You must notify Council within thirty (30) days if a change to your rating category occurs.
Periodically Council conducts audits and may change your rating category following such an event.
If you are dissatisfied with Council’s declaration of the category of your land after it has been reviewed, you may appeal to the Land and Environment Court within thirty (30) days of the declaration being made, under Section 526 of the Local Government Act 1993.
Download your change of category application.
To find out more about rating categories:
When Council is preparing its budget for the new financial year, it considers how much revenue will be generated from rates and charges.
Council is limited to a maximum percentage that can be raised from certain rates and charges. This restriction is called ‘rate pegging’ and it is set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) each year.
The exception to the 'rate pegging' limit is if Council has had a 'special rate variation' application approved.
So Council is required to calculate rates in a specific way. Council uses a combination of a base amount and an ordinary rate.
The ordinary rate is subject to *ad valorem being applied to the current value of the land. The base amount and *ad valorem vary depending on which rating category your land belongs to.
The use of a base amount brings the higher and lower values closer together and in effect spreads the burden across the board to all ratepayers. The base amount can vary across rate category types but not within categories.
The ad valorem is the cents in the dollar amount applied to the value of the land.
The ad valorem is calculated by taking into account the total anticipated rates revenue and the average percentage increase in land values in the area.
The ad valorem rate varies across the rate category types.
Base amount + (individual land value x ad valorem rate) = annual ordinary rates
For example:
A land owner, whose land has increased in value, but where the percentage increase is less than the average percentage increase for the area, is likely to see a reduction in their ad valorem component.
A land owner, whose land has increased in value such that the percentage increase is consistent with the average percentage increase, is likely to see little change in the ad valorem component of their ordinary rates.
A land owner, whose percentage land value increase has exceeded the average percentage increase for land values may experience an increase in the ad valorem component of their ordinary rate.
Find out more about rates calculations:
Some parcels of land are exempt from rates and charges.
These include parcels of land within a national park or crown land and land that belongs to, for example:
Unless you meet the exemption criteria in the Local Government Act 1993, you cannot be exempt from paying rates.
If you have made a payment to your rate account and then received your rate notice and the balance indicates the payment has not come off, there could be a few reasons for this:
Reference numbers are 8-digit numbers. All rate accounts start with ‘5’, water accounts start with ‘6’.
The reference number is unique to your property and every property has its own number so if you have used the reference number from your previous property in error, then the payment may have been credited to the wrong rate account or your water account.
If you think your payment has gone astray check with your bank first, then contact our Revenue Management Team immediately with all the payment details.
Due to privacy concerns, if you need to contact Council to discuss a deceased estate or to advise us of the passing of one of our ratepayers, we require you to submit a copy of the ratepayer’s death certificate and will that lists you as the executor of the estate, by using the following link: Create deceased estate notification.
Council is unable to change ownership details, however upon receipt of a copy of the death certificate and will, Council will change the name on the account to "Estate of ......." and executors are noted as authorised representatives.
Accounts will continue to be raised and remain in the deceased person’s name until the property is transferred to the executor(s) or to the surviving owner(s). Your solicitor will lodge the appropriate forms with the NSW Land Registry Services. Once the certificate of title has been changed, Council will be notified.
Interest charges will continue to be applied but no further action, including reminder and final reminder notices will be undertaken for up to six months, at which time the account will then be reviewed. If Council’s quarterly Centrelink verification identifies a person as deceased, the pension rebate in the deceased's name will be removed from the property as the eligibility has ceased.
When providing copies of the death certificate and will, it is also recommended to provide contact details for the executors and advise if the postal address needs to be updated.
Authority can be provided by using this link: Create authority to act notification, or by post to Shoalhaven City Council PO Box 42 Nowra, NSW 2541.
Due to privacy concerns, accounts can only be discussed with:
Written authority must state what the authorised person can discuss with Council for example, rates notices and water account or all Council matters.
Authority can be revoked at any time in writing to council@shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au, or by post to Shoalhaven City Council PO Box 42 Nowra, NSW 2541.
Acceptable authority to act documentation:
An official document verifying their details as an authorised officer of the company – i.e., that they are a director or secretary.
This official document could be either:
Council’s privacy management plan states that we do not disclose personal information without consent.
Council’s privacy management plan protects our customers personal information by requiring appropriate supporting documentation prior to actioning a request to access, alter or amend information held.
We protect our customers information by confirming that any access to information we provide is authorised, appropriate. Once we have the documents required, you will not need to submit this again.
Our privacy management plan also protects our customers by requiring a written application for substantive amendments. The application should set out the grounds on which changes are sought.
We protect our customers information by confirming that any access to information we provide is authorised and appropriate. Once we have the documents required, you will not need to submit this again.
The Local Government Act 1993 is quite specific in how councils can increase rates and charges and before doing so must consult with the public extensively through public meetings and the annual draft Delivery Program Operational Plan (DPOP), which is usually released around April or May each year.
All submissions received by Council from the public regarding the upcoming financial year's rates and charges are reported to Council and all submissions considered prior to adopting the plan.
This is your opportunity to raise any issues about the rates and charges proposed for the coming year as once the rates and charges have been adopted, they cannot be changed until the following year.
Councillors are aware of the burden any increase of rates and charges has on the community and any rate, charge or fee which needs to be increased is only done after all Councillors are satisfied the increase in fees or charges is justified.
Council rates and domestic waste management charges are all exempt from the GST in accordance with A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Exempt Taxes, Fees and Charges) Determination 2001 (No. 4) Division 81.
Once the contract for sale of a property has taken place, the solicitor/conveyancer should request a 603 certificate from Council.
This certificate is a notification of all outstanding monies owing on the property i.e. rates, water, kerb and gutter or effluent.
At settlement time, the solicitor/conveyancer should contact Council and request an update to the 603 certificate as new rates, charges or interest may have been added to the account.
Rates arrears not paid at the time of settlement remain the responsibility of the new property owner. It is up to the purchaser, seller and solicitor/conveyancer to determine if rates and charges are paid in full for the whole of the remaining year at settlement or up to the next quarterly instalment date.
It is always advisable to pay rates and charges for the whole of the year at settlement as the time delay in notifying Council of the sale by the Land Titles Office can mean the new owners do not receive their rate instalment notice causing payments to be missed and interest to be incurred.
If you are still receiving rate notices for a property you no longer own, mark the envelope Return To Sender (R.T.S.) with a date advising “Property Sold – DD/MM/YY”. Council records can only be amended following receipt of a transfer document detailing the changes to the certificate of title from NSW Land Registry Services.
Once a purchaser’s solicitor/bank lodges the advice with NSW Land Registry Services, they will notify council directly. Sometimes there can be a delay of anywhere up to 8 weeks depending on how quickly the documents are lodged with NSW Land Registry Services.
We recommend that you contact your solicitor to ensure the appropriate documents have been lodged with NSW Land Registry Services, as you remain responsible for all rates and charges until the actual title of the property has been changed.
Land valuations are supplied by the Valuer General’s Office.
All properties within the Shoalhaven are re-valued every three (3) years.
Annual valuations granted by the Valuer General for the purpose of land tax cannot be used for the purpose of levying property rates.
Councils do not determine the land value of your property. Land is valued by the NSW Valuer General. These valuations are conducted for Shoalhaven City Council every three (3) years and you will receive a valuation notice from them after it is completed.
If you do not agree with the land value, you have sixty (60) days to object to the Valuer General.
All objections and/or appeals regarding the valuation of land must be directed to the Valuer General’s Office. Council cannot alter a valuation without instruction from the Valuer General.
If you lodge an objection or have an objection pending, you must still pay your rates while your objection is being considered.
Once the objection is determined and Council is advised of the amended land value, the rates will be adjusted, and the ratepayer advised.
For further information go to the Valuer General website.
Shoalhaven City Council rates are payable in full or by quarterly instalments. The annual rates and charges notices are sent out each July.
You can pay online or choose one of the other payment options available. If you pay your rates in full then you must pay your rates by 31 August each year to prevent interest being added to them. The Local Government Act 1993 requires rates paid by quarterly instalments to be received by:
This also prevents interest being added to overdue rates.
For more information about rate payments view:
If your payment has not reached Council by the due date, you will incur interest on you rate account.
Council has a debt recovery policy, and this will be implemented if you have not made any contact with Council to discuss your circumstances.
Council staff do not have the resources to personally contact ratepayers if a payment is not received.
The responsibility remains with the ratepayer to make their payments on time or contact Council and advise them of any problems so arrangements or an agreement can be put in place. Rates must be paid in full by 31st August every year unless paying by instalments.
Council recognises that some ratepayers may experience financial difficulties in meeting their rate commitments on time.
A ratepayer at any time may make arrangements to pay off their outstanding accounts by regular payments, subject to the following guidelines:
To apply for An agreement to pay rates and charges, simply complete the application and return it to Council.
Council can also provide a hardship application for those people in severe financial distress.
The hardship provision is only applicable for the property you reside in, it does not cover vacant land or investment properties.
To discuss the provisions for hardship contact our Revenue Management Team.
It is the policy of Shoalhaven City Council to only accept a change of address in writing for the protection of the property owner.
If you have changed your name or would like to add another name and would like Council to amend its records, you will need to change the ownership name on the certificate of title, this will need to be changed through your solicitor or directly with NSW Land Registry Services who will then inform Council.
You can contact:
The Local Government Act 1993 allows all property owners to contribute to the current and future provisions of waste services.
The Act requires councils to levy an annual charge for providing domestic waste management services to all parcels of rateable land for which the service is available, whether or not it is actually used.
Your weekly service is for a standard 120 Litre bin, 80 litre bin or 240 litre bin along with a 240 litre recyclable bin, which is collected fortnightly.
Waste collection bins remain the property of the Council and must not be removed from the property when you relocate. Vacant blocks of land are charged a vacant land waste service availability charge in accordance with the Local Government Act where the waste service is/could be available.
The NSW State Government introduced a levy on waste collection a few years ago and this portion of your total waste management charge appears separately on your rate notice for easy identification. Pro rata adjustments due to changes in bin sizes will apply on a weekly basis from the date of change, following advice from the Waste Services Department.
If you are unsatisfied with the size of your bin and would like it changed an administration fee will be charged, see our Bins page. For more information:
Stormwater is rainwater that flows off land.
When it rains, some stormwater is collected from your roof, driveways or paved and landscaped areas. It flows over land, or through the pipes and drains to the existing public stormwater system and into our creeks. All levels of Government have acknowledged that traditional funding sources are not enough to maintain key public infrastructure in an adequate and safe condition. The State Government amended the Local Government Act a few years ago to provide councils with the ability to implement a program of major improvements to stormwater management, funded by a stormwater levy.
This decision reflects the fact that councils need additional funds beyond their usual budget, to be able to undertake this large amount of work. Shoalhaven City is one of the high population growth areas in NSW, this leads to development pressure in the city’s urban areas, many of which are located close to the city’s main water bodies such as rivers, bays, lakes and the ocean.
Additional development can lead to increasing nutrient and sediment loads to the creeks, rivers and estuaries. This potential is compounded by the increase in population during holiday periods.
Therefore, Shoalhaven City Council has developed a plan to provide more effective management of our urban stormwater, thereby contributing to environmental protection.
The stormwater management plan covers all urban areas in the city with a resident population that exceeds 1,000 people.
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Revenue Management Team