Rates, Fees and Payments
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Rates and charges are levied on land within the Mid-Western Regional Council.
Income that Council receives from rates (and other sources) provides funding for a broad range of services for the whole community.
These services are essential as they provide and maintain an acceptable standard of living for our region. FeesMid-Western Regional Council collect fees and charges for the use of Council facilities and for providing services such as conducting inspections or processing a variety of applications. These include:
Fees for children's service Payments Payment of rates, fees and charges can be made by mail, in person at Council's Customer Service Centres in Gulgong, Mudgee and Rylstone, by Bpay or on-line. For more information click here |
Rates, Fees and Payments
- Why do you have to pay council rates?
- Councils help local communities run smoothly. They administer various laws and regulations to help maintain and improve services and facilities for the community. These services include community services, sporting and recreation services, environmental planning, public health, environmental protection, water & sewer services and waste collection, treatment and disposal. The rates you pay allow your council to fund these services.
- How does a council decide how much you have to pay in rates and charges?
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Each council is required to determine the combination of rates, charges & fees needed to fund the services it provides to the community. This is called a revenue policy. The revenue policy contains a rating structure that determines which rates and charges you will have to pay and how they will be calculated. Charges are generally determined on either an annual basis or according to usage - or they may be a combination of both, for example, water supply charges.
Councils can choose how they calculate and distribute rates among categories of rateable properties in the council area. For each category or sub-category, rates within Mid-Western Regional Council's area are calculated according to the land value of each property, subject to a minimum amount.
The land value of each property is determined by the Land and Property Information Division of the Department of Lands (formerly known as the NSW Valuer General's Office).
- Is there any way of knowing in advance what your rates and charges will be?
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Every year, before the final amounts are fixed, councils must prepare a draft management plan that includes their proposed revenue policy for the following year. This policy must include details of all rates and charges that the council is proposing to levy on ratepayers. The draft management plan must be available to the public.
Mid-Western Regional Council's current Draft Management Plan is available on Council's web site, at Council Customer Service Centres in Gulgong, Mudgee and Rylstone or at Council libraries.
- Can you object to what council is proposing?
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The draft management plan must be put on exhibition prior to its adoption to give members of the public an opportunity to comment. This usually happens around April or May each year. Councils must consider any submissions by the public before adopting the plan. This is your opportunity to raise any issues about the rates and charges for the following year. Once the rates and charges have been adopted for a particular year, they cannot be changed until the next year.
- Do you pay a domestic waste management charge if you don't use the service?
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Yes. The Local Government Act requires councils to levy an annual charge for providing domestic waste management services on all parcels of rateable land for which the service is available, whether or not it is actually used. It is considered that all property owners should contribute to the current and future provision of waste services.
09-10 Waste Information Sheet
(305kb) - Do I pay a waste charge if I live out of town?
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Yes. All properties are charged a General Waste charge. This charge is levied to fund the operation, maintenance & upgrade of the Regional Waste Facility (landfill and recycling) at Mudgee and 14 waste transfer stations throughout the region. Residents are not charged for delivering domestic household waste from their place of residence to Council's waste facilities.
09-10 Waste Information Sheet
(305kb)