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Rates & fees

Rates & fees

Rates are one of the ways residents fund the council — though in Hay they are a smaller share of the total than in most councils, with grants and contributions doing much of the work. 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, the payment 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

4.8%Set by IPART: a base cost change of 3.0%, plus an emergency services levy factor of 0.2% and an ESL subsidy catch-up adjustment of 0.7%, less a 0.2% election-cost adjustment, giving a core peg of 3.7%; a 1.1% population factor lifts the final peg to 4.8%. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
4.3%IPART's rate peg for Hay for 2025–26.
What the council adopted
Total rate yield up 4.8% in 2026–27The council's 2026–27 Revenue Policy states the total rate yield will increase by the 4.8% permissible rate-pegging amount. Water and sewer charges rose 4.8%; waste charges rose 7.5% to cover the transition to the three-bin system.
~$588 / year (2024–25)About 51% below the NSW average of ~$1,203 (OLG time-series data). A low average residential rate reflects local land values and the council's rating structure — it is not a measure of service levels.
Rates instalment dates
31 August · 30 November · 28 February · 31 MayFour quarterly instalments. Water accounts are billed separately three times a year, due 30 October, 28 February and 30 June.
Overdue interest (2026–27)
9.5% per annumA NSW-wide maximum set annually by the Minister for Local Government (cash rate plus 6%, rounded to the nearest half per cent) under the Local Government Act, and applied by every council to overdue rates instalments. Hay's own 2026–27 Revenue Policy lists the same 9.5%.
Domestic waste management charge (2026–27)
$600 per service per yearSet in the council's Revenue Policy; the waste charge is separate from rates and is not capped by the rate peg. A vacant-allotment domestic waste charge of $100 and a tip access charge of $100 ($92 for farmland) also apply.
Concessions
Eligible pensioners can receive a rebate; a financial hardship application form is also availableBoth forms are on the council's Customer Service Centre page. Check eligibility with the council.
Special rate variation (SRV)
None published as currently in forceWe found no council-published special rate variation for Hay, and Hay was not among the councils IPART determined applications for on 2 June 2026 — so the ordinary IPART rate peg applies. Confirm with the council's Revenue Policy.

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, and on which rating category (residential, farmland, farmland irrigation, business, rural residential) your property sits in.

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.