What will this mean for rates?

The answer is complicated and as yet unknown.

The 2022 land values will be used to calculate Council’s rates and charges for the 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years.

The current financial year is the last of the three years based on the 2018/9 valuations.

While our residential land value has gone up 115 per cent since then, this does not mean that Council rates will increase in tandem due largely to the rate peg.

Last September, the State Government’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal set a 2023-24 rate peg for Kiama Council of 5.1 per cent.

Rate pegging means a council’s overall rates revenue cannot increase by more than the approved percentage increase.

The Office of Local Government’s website says that “if overall land values rise, councils may have to reduce