Understanding rates

While Council's income from rates forms the largest single portion of revenue, this is generally just over half of the organisation's overall income of $152 million.

Understanding how rates work and how are rates calculated can be quite confusing, however rates are determined in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993.

To help make it easier to understand rates, we've created the following video as part of our Demystifying Council series.

In Maitland, rates and charges make up between 55-60% of Council’s total income each year. And while rates collectively generate a significant amount of money for services and infrastructure, rates income can't cover everything. The balance of Council's income is made up of grant and development contribution funding, user fees and charges, as well as interest and investment revenue.

In June 2014, IPART approved Council's application for a Special Rate Variation, which means rates are able to be increased by 7.25% each year for seven years. This was done to help place Council in a more sustainable financial position.

From July 1 2020, Council will enter the final year of its, IPART approved Special Rate Variation, which has seen Council's total rate income able to be increased by 7.25% each year for seven years. This was done to ensure Council was in sustainable financial position, and able to provide services to meet the needs of the growing community of Maitland.

The average residential rate for 2020/21 is $1,682, an increase of $94 from 2019/20.

rates faqs

A list of rates FAQs is available here.