Liverpool Plains Shire council rates — what you pay and when

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. Liverpool Plains also carries an earlier IPART-approved special variation in its rate base. 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.

See the full explainer, with formulas →

Rates at a glance

: 3.6%Set by IPART — a base peg of 3.0% plus small adjustment factors (employee costs, emergency-services levy, energy, population). It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
: 4.0%IPART's rate peg for Liverpool Plains for 2025–26: a base peg of 3.6% plus and minus adjustment factors, netting to 4.0%.
: ~$934 / year (2024–25)About 22% below the NSW average of ~$1,203 (OLG data). Rateable properties fall into four categories — residential, business, farmland and mining — and rates are based on the Valuer General's land value for your property.
Instalment dates: 31 August, 30 November, 28 February, 31 MayPay in full by 31 August, or by four quarterly instalments on those dates. Council sends an instalment notice about a month before each is due. Water is billed separately on quarterly consumption, with due dates that vary by notice.
Overdue interest (2026–27): 9.5% per annumA NSW-wide maximum set annually by the Minister for Local Government under the Local Government Act (cash rate plus 6%, rounded to the nearest half per cent) and applied by every council to overdue rates instalments. It was 10.5% in 2025–26.
Concessions: Eligible pensioners: up to $250 off rates, plus $87.50 off fixed water and $87.50 off fixed sewer chargesYou need a pensioner concession card from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the property must be your principal place of residence; applications are confirmed with Centrelink. Hardship arrangements and payment plans are also available — contact the council on (02) 6746 1755.
Special rate variation (SRV): 18.1% permanent variation approved for 2023–24IPART determined on 13 June 2023 that the council could increase its general income by 18.1% in 2023–24 (inclusive of the rate peg), with reporting conditions running through to 2027–28. A separate earlier variation — a temporary 8% per year in 2021–22 and 2022–23 — was removed from the rate base on 1 July 2023.

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 Valuer General revaluation, and on which rating category your property sits in. The rates, fees and charges for each year are set out in the council's draft Operational Plan and Budget, which goes on public exhibition before it is adopted.

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.