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. On top of that, a council can apply for a Special Rate Variation (SRV) to raise more, and Queanbeyan-Palerang has been in the middle of one. 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.
- 3.9%Set by IPART; the maximum ordinary increase to total rates income. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- Special Rate Variation (SRV)
- ≈64.3% over 3 years (18% in each of 2023–24, 2024–25 and 2025–26)IPART approved QPRC's SRV on 15 June 2023. For 2025–26 — the final year — total rates income rose 18%, inclusive of the 3.9% rate peg. This is the main reason QPRC's average residential rate sits well above the NSW average.
- Ordinary IPART rate peg appliesThe 3-year SRV concludes after 2025–26; from 2026–27 the ordinary IPART rate peg applies. See IPART's 2026–27 rate-peg paper for the council-specific figure.
- 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 limits the council's total rates income, not each household's bill. QPRC has been applying an IPART-approved Special Rate Variation that lifted total rates income by 18% a year over 2023–24 to 2025–26 — which is why its average residential rate is well above the NSW average. How your individual rates change also depends on how your land value moved relative to other properties at the latest revaluation.
Sources — check it yourself
- Queanbeyan-Palerang — Rates information · 2026
- Queanbeyan-Palerang — Statement of Revenue Policy 2025–26 · 2025–26
- Queanbeyan-Palerang — Special Rate Variation (Your Voice QPRC) · SRV approved 15 Jun 2023
- IPART — Rate pegs for NSW councils 2026–27 · Sep 2025
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.