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 'special variation' to increase income by more. Strathfield has an approved multi-year special variation in place, so that, rather than the standard peg, sets its permitted increase. Here's the current picture 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.
- Special variation (2023–24 to 2026–27)
- Permanent special variation approved by IPARTA cumulative 92.83% increase in the council's general income (including the rate peg), phased over four years: 35.1% in 2023–24, 13.0% in 2024–25, 17.5% in 2025–26 and 7.5% in 2026–27. 2026–27 is the final year of the phase-in. This raises the council's total rates income, not each individual bill by that amount.
- 2025–26: 6.9%; 2026–27: 3.3%IPART's standard rate peg (2025–26: core 3.8% + 3.1% population factor; 2026–27: core 3.3%). Because Strathfield has an approved special variation, its permitted general-income increase for these years is set by the variation above, not the standard peg.
- Minimum rate
- Rising to $1,200As part of the variation, IPART approved raising the residential minimum rate from $620 to $1,200 (and the business minimum to $1,200) over 2023–24 to 2024–25; it then rises by the rate peg.
- Waste charge reduction
- Domestic waste charge cut by $245The council reduced the annual domestic waste charge by $245 alongside the variation, offsetting part of the impact on residential ratepayers.
- 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. Strathfield's special variation is a permanent increase to its rate base, phased in to 2026–27.
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.