Green light for rates increase

By Christine McKee

May 16, 2025

Almost 100 people turned out to a public forum in Corowa in March where Federation Council’s application for a special rate variation wasn’t going down well.

Federation Council’s application for a Special Rate Variation has been approved by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).

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The council applied for a rate increase of 69.94 per cent over two years, with 52.01 per cent in 2025/26 and 11.8 per cent in 2026/27.

IPART Chair Carmel Donnelly said the decision was based on IPART’s assessment against the Office of Local Government criteria, taking into account the issues raised by stakeholders during the submission period.

Six applications were submitted from NSW councils for special variations to increase the council’s general income by more than the rate peg.

Five were approved with the application from North Sydney Council denied.

“The councils with approved increases are encouraged to consult with the community to decide how best to implement the allowed increase.”

“The councils with approved increases are encouraged to consult with the community to decide how best to implement the allowed increase,” Ms Donnelly said.

“It’s important to note that elected councillors can choose when they implement the approved increase in rates income, including deferring any increases for up to 10 years and also how they set rates across the rating categories.”

IPART sets a rate peg annually for each of the 128 councils in NSW, which caps each council’s increase in the income they collect from ordinary rates.

For 2025-26, the core rate pegs range from 3.6 to 5.1 per cent across NSW.

Reports on each of the 6 council special variation decisions, 2 minimum rate decisions, and related documents are now available on the IPART website