Rates & fees
Rates are the main way residents fund the council. Each year an independent regulator (IPART) sets a 'rate peg' — the maximum percentage a council can lift its total rates income. In May 2025 IPART instead approved a permanent Special Rate Variation (SRV) for Upper Hunter — its first in about a decade — allowing bigger increases than the standard peg. Here's the current position, how the peg 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 (Upper Hunter, SRV)
- +10% (first of three SRV years)IPART approved a Special Rate Variation of 10% in general income for 2025–26 — this includes the year's standard rate peg of 4.3%, with the remaining ~5.7% the additional SRV amount. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- 2026–27 increase (Upper Hunter, SRV)
- +10% (second of three SRV years)The SRV allows another 10% in 2026–27. For reference, IPART's standard rate peg for Upper Hunter for 2026–27 (had there been no SRV) was 3.5%.
- 2027–28 increase (Upper Hunter, SRV)
- +10% (third of three SRV years)The third and final approved SRV year; the ~33.1% cumulative increase over the three years is permanent (it stays in the rate base).
- Why the SRV
- To address a core deficit in the General FundThe council said the SRV is needed to maintain current service levels and asset renewal and to return the General Fund to a sustainable position. Council estimated the average residential impact at roughly $6.21 per week by 2027–28.
- What the peg/SRV 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 and SRV limit the council's total rates income, not each household's bill. Upper Hunter's approved SRV lifts general income by 10% a year for three years (2025–26 to 2027–28), a cumulative increase of about 33.1% that is permanent. How your individual rates change depends mostly on how your land value moved relative to other properties at the latest revaluation.
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.