What are Council Rates?

Local Authority Rates are a levy based upon property values that pay for facilities and services provided by the Council. Facilities include libraries, recreation centres and their grounds, playgrounds, roads, footpaths, parks and reserves.

Property valuations are provided by the Valuer General of WA for two types of values. These are Gross Rental Value (GRV) that usually applies to township areas and Unimproved Value (UV) that is generally for rural land.

GRV is an estimate of the rent a property may earn in a year whereas UV refers to the site value of the property.

GRV’s for properties are revalued every four years and values for UV properties are set annually.

Local Governments set a ‘rate in the dollar’ as part of their Annual Budget process when they are determining the revenue required to be raised by rates for that year’s expenditure. There is also a minimum rate set each year to ensure all residents contribute in an equal manner. The minimum rate generally applies to undeveloped properties.

Services for which separate charges may be made, include refuse collection (annual charge with rates), building and planning approvals, and a wide range of professional assistance.