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 councils can also apply to IPART for a higher 'special rate variation'. Port Stephens is on an approved special variation. 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.
- 2025–26 increase (Port Stephens)
- 9.5% — approved special rate variationIPART approved a special variation of 9.5% per year across 2023–24, 2024–25 and 2025–26 (about 31.29% compounded over the three years), retained permanently in the rate base. 2025–26 was the third and final year of that increase. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- 4.5%IPART's ordinary rate peg for Port Stephens for 2025–26 was a core peg of 3.9% plus a 0.6% population factor. The council's approved special variation (9.5%) applied instead.
- 4.1%With the special variation period ended, IPART's ordinary rate peg applies for 2026–27 — a core peg of 3.0% plus a 1.1% population factor.
- What the peg caps
- Total rates income — not your billIt doesn't cap the domestic waste charge, which is separate.
- 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).
- Overdue interest (2025–26)
- 10.5% per annumA NSW-wide statutory maximum set annually by the state government under the Local Government Act, applied by every council to overdue rates instalments.
- Concessions
- Eligible pensioners can receive a rebateCheck eligibility with the council.
The rate peg (or an approved special variation) 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. Port Stephens' special variation was permanent, so from 2026–27 the ordinary rate peg is applied on top of the higher rate base.
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.