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. 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.
- 4.1%Set by IPART — a core peg of 4.1% with no population-factor adjustment. It caps the council's total rates income, not your individual bill.
- 4.5%IPART's rate peg for Woollahra for 2026–27 — a core peg of 3.6% plus a 0.9% population factor.
- Special rate variation
- SRV approved in 2023; a further proposal has been in community consultationIPART approved a Woollahra special rate variation in 2023, and the council has since consulted its community on a further proposed SRV. We don't quote a percentage here because figures depend on the current proposal — see the council's Special Rate Variation update and Your Say pages for the latest.
- 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). In a high-value area like Woollahra, land values drive large per-property bills.
- 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. How your individual rates change depends mostly on how your land value moved relative to other properties at the latest revaluation. Woollahra's high average residential rate mainly reflects high land values, not necessarily a higher rate in the dollar.
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.