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, when the instalments fall due in Forbes, 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.
Rates at a glance
- 3.1%Set by IPART — a core peg of 3.0% plus small adjustment factors. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- 4.4%IPART's rate peg for Forbes for 2025–26 — a base peg of 3.6% plus population and other adjustment factors.
- ~$957 / year (2024–25)About 20% below the NSW average of ~$1,203 (OLG data). A separate domestic waste charge (~$451 in 2024–25) applies.
- Instalment due dates (2026–27)
- 31 Aug 2026, 30 Nov 2026, 28 Feb 2027, 31 May 2027Paying the full amount in one go must be done by 31 August, as daily interest starts accruing on the first instalment if it is unpaid after that date.
- Overdue interest (2026–27)
- 9.5% per annum, calculated dailyA statutory maximum prescribed annually by the Minister for Local Government under the Local Government Act 1993 and applied by every NSW council to overdue rates instalments. Council uses an external debt recovery agency for outstanding rates.
- Concessions
- Eligible pensioners can receive a rebateYou must receive a Centrelink or Department of Veterans' Affairs pension and hold a Commonwealth pensioner concession card, and the property must be your sole or principal place of residence. Complete the Pensioner Concession Rates Rebate Application and bring it and your card to the council office.
- Special rate variation (SRV)
- No SRV application currently on footIPART approved a permanent Additional Special Variation of 2.5% for Forbes in 2022–23 on 20 June 2022 — 1.8% above that year's 0.7% rate peg, estimated at about $0.14 million of extra income kept permanently in the rate base. That was a one-off catch-up process offered to councils under OLG circular 22-07.
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 — land values in the Forbes LGA are set every three years by the NSW Valuer General. Properties are rated in one of four categories (residential, business, farmland, mining), and you can ask the council to review your category if you disagree with it.
Sources — check it yourself
- Forbes Shire Council — Rates (due dates, interest, concessions, FAQs) · 2026–27
- IPART — Rate pegs for NSW councils 2026–27 · Sep 2025
- IPART — Rate pegs for NSW councils 2025–26 · Oct 2024
- IPART — Forbes Shire Council Additional Special Variation determination (2022–23) · Jun 2022
- NSW Valuer General — your land value fact sheet
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.