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 — but a council can also apply to IPART for a larger, one-off or permanent Special Rate Variation (SRV). Kempsey has an approved permanent SRV, so its increases for these years are set by that SRV rather than by the ordinary peg. Here's the current picture, 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.
- 2025–26 rate increase (Kempsey)
- 7.5%The council resolved (18 February 2025) to phase in the second-year portion of its approved SRV, applying 7.5% in 2025–26.
- 2026–27 rate increase (Kempsey)
- 11.52%The remainder of the phased SRV, applied in 2026–27, so the council still reaches the approved total revenue by 2026–27.
- Special Rate Variation (SRV)
- Permanent SRV approved by IPART in 2024The council applied to raise general income by 42.7% over three years; IPART partially approved a permanent SRV of 24.09% over two years (a 7.9% increase in 2024–25 and 15% in 2025–26). The council later resolved to phase the second-year portion across 2025–26 and 2026–27.
- 3.9%The peg that would have applied to Kempsey absent the SRV. It caps a council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- Overdue interest (2025–26)
- 10.5% per annumThe NSW-wide statutory maximum set annually by the state government; the council resolved to apply the maximum, effective 1 July 2025.
- 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). Eligible pensioners can receive a rebate — check with the council.
The SRV and rate peg limit 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. Because Kempsey's SRV was applied for and approved as a package, the percentages above are the council's actual approved increases for those years, not the ordinary peg.
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.