Council rate notices are coming
Published on 21 July 2020
Rate notices are on their way to more than 20,000 property owners across Campaspe Shire.
General Manager Corporate, Fleur Cousins, said rates are an important income stream making up 47 per cent of the overall revenue, enabling Council to deliver more than 100 services to the community.
In order of money spent, the top five services Council provides are:
- Road services, accounting for 40.65% of the total budget. This includes the replacement, upgrade and maintenance of roads, bridges, footpaths and drains.
- Organisational support (human resources, financial services, IT, Councillors and governance), at 13.28%.
- Parks and gardens including maintenance, at 9.42%.
- Recreation and aquatic facilities, at 9.32%
- Asset management and engineering services, at 7.34%
Rates are calculated based on a property’s value along with its rating category. So, for example, a residential property valued at $350,000 would pay $1,479.83 in rates (based on the general land rating category of 0.0042281 cents/$CIV) plus the $200 municipal charge, which is applied to all rateable properties to recover part of Council’s administrative costs.
The notice sets out the due dates for payments by instalments; which are 30 September, 30 November, 28 February and 31 May and also the date for paying in full, 15 February 2021. There are several ways to pay your rates, including direct debit, BPAY, in person at a Council or Australia Post customer service centre, or by credit card.
Ms Cousins highlighted that ratepayers who have elected to pay by direct debit on an ongoing basis do not need to do anything, the direct debit authorisation will continue.
“Many property owners have opted to receive this year’s notice via email,” Ms Cousins said.
“Whether for speed of delivery, convenience, or a more environmentally friendly option, receiving your notice as an email is a great option.”
“Instructions are included on the rate notice outlining how future notices can be received by email.”
All transfer station vouchers will still be mailed via post regardless of how the rate notices are received.
“Any ratepayer facing genuine financial hardship in paying their rates is urged to contact Council as soon as possible to discuss individual circumstances,” Ms Cousins said.