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Rates & fees

Rates & fees

Rates are one of the main ways 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. Coonamble's notice also carries separate annual charges for domestic waste, and (in the serviced towns) water and sewerage. Here's the current figure, the instalment dates, 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.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Rates at a glance

3.5%Set by IPART — a core peg of 3.2% plus a 0.3% population factor. Council confirms the 3.5% figure in its adopted 2026-27 Operational Plan and Revenue Policy. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
4.7%IPART's rate peg for Coonamble for 2025-26 — a core peg of 3.8% plus a 0.9% population and adjustment factor.
~$578 / year (2024-25)About 52% below the NSW average of ~$1,203 (OLG data). What any one household pays depends on its rating category and land value; average rates across councils reflect land values and rating structure rather than service levels.
Minimum ordinary rate 2026-27 (by category)
Coonamble $590 · Gulargambone $590 · Village $580 · Farmland $470 · Small Rural Holdings $610 · Rural Residential $580 · Business $640From Council's adopted 2026-27 Revenue Policy. Council reports 1,370 of 2,563 assessments sit on the minimum. Above the minimum, rates are calculated from an ad valorem rate applied to your land value.
Domestic waste charge 2026-27
$660 per service (2025-26: $550)A separate annual charge, not capped by the rate peg. Additional bin service $370; vacant land $130; rural waste management charge $50. Council applies a strict cost-recovery approach — waste-charge income cannot subsidise other activities and ordinary rates cannot subsidise waste.
Instalments
Four quarterly instalments: 31 August, 30 November, 28 February and 31 MayOr pay the full year in one payment by 31 August. Council issues an instalment notice about a month before each of the second, third and fourth instalments.
Overdue interest (2026-27)
9.5% per annumThe maximum rate is set each year by the Minister for Local Government (cash rate plus 6%, rounded to the nearest half per cent) and applies statewide; Council's adopted 2026-27 Revenue Policy sets its rate at 9.50% per annum for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Interest is simple interest calculated daily. Council's 'Pay my Rates' web page still shows the older 10.5% figure — the adopted Revenue Policy and the OLG circular are the current authority.
Concessions & hardship
Pensioner rebate up to $250, plus up to $87.50 water and $87.50 sewerageFor holders of a Pensioner Concession Card or an eligible DVA Gold Card (TPI or EDA), on their sole or principal place of residence. Apply in person at 80 Castlereagh Street or by form. Council also has a Financial Hardship Policy — phone the rates section on (02) 6827 1900 to arrange repayments.
Special rate variation (SRV)
None identified in forceCouncil's adopted 2026-27 Revenue Policy applies the ordinary IPART rate peg and does not refer to a special variation. IPART's 2 June 2026 special-variation determinations did not include Coonamble.

The rate peg limits the council's total rates income, not each household's bill. How your individual rates change depends mostly on how your land value moved relative to other properties at the latest revaluation — Council's 2026-27 rates are based on valuations held in November 2025, and it notes the ad valorem amounts may be adjusted slightly when the rates are made so that it does not exceed its allowable notional yield.

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.