Rates & fees
Rates are the main way residents fund the council. Each year an independent regulator (IPART) sets a 'rate peg' — the maximum percentage the council can lift its total rates income. Here's the current figure, how it compares across NSW, and the things that actually change your bill.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Rate peg
- The cap on how much a council's TOTAL rates income can rise this year.
- Core peg
- The rate peg before the population top-up — the part driven by rising costs.
- Population factor
- An extra slice of the rate peg for fast-growing councils.
- Special Rate Variation (SRV)
- Permission for a council to raise rates by more than the peg.
- Land valuation
- Your land's value, set by the state, used to split the rates bill between properties.
- Pensioner rebate
- A discount on rates for eligible pensioners.
- Domestic waste charge
- A separate annual fee for your bins — NOT part of the rate peg.
- IPART
- Sets the rate peg and reviews council pricing.
- 5.9%Set by IPART — it caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill. Blacktown's growing population lifts its peg above many other councils.
- 2026–27 (Blacktown)
- Special Rate Variation approved by IPARTOn 2 June 2026 IPART approved Blacktown's Special Rate Variation starting 2026–27 (an increase above the standard rate peg). The council proposed a permanent 15% residential increase in 2026–27, then the assumed rate peg in the following two years — earmarked for roads and infrastructure. The council adopts its 2026–27 budget on 29 June 2026.
- How that compares (NSW, 2026–27)
- Core pegs ranged 2.5%–4.2% (final 2.7%–5.7%)Population growth lifts the final figure; councils can apply to IPART for a Special Rate Variation above the peg.
- What the peg caps
- Total rates income — not your billIt doesn't cap the domestic waste charge, which is separate.
- Why your bill can still change more (or less)
- Land revaluations shift bills between propertiesYour share moves with your land value relative to other properties (NSW Valuer General).
- Concessions
- Eligible pensioners can receive a rebateCheck eligibility with the council.
The rate peg limits the council's total rates income, not each household's bill. Blacktown sought — and IPART approved — a Special Rate Variation to raise rates above the peg from 2026–27, which the council says will be spent on roads and infrastructure. How your individual rates change also depends on how your land value moved relative to other properties at the latest revaluation.
Sources — check it yourself
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.