We provide the minister with advice on the average rate cap for each financial year.
Our advice on setting council rate caps
Overview
Each year, the Minister for Local Government sets the rate cap that specifies the maximum councils’ can increase rates for the forthcoming financial year. The minister can set a cap that applies to all councils, a group of councils or a single council.
Our advice to the minister includes:
- a recommendation for any adjustments to be applied to consumer price index in setting the cap for all councils, a grouping of councils or any individual council
- the rationale for any adjustment
- a preferred option if we recommend more than one option.
Councils can choose to submit a higher cap application to us if the rate cap does not meet their needs.
Our latest advice to the Minister for Local Government
In this letter to the minister, we recommend the average rate cap be set equal to the CPI forecast for 2024–25 from the Department of Treasury and Finance. We also recommend that a uniform cap continue to apply for all councils in 2024–25.
Previous advice
3 December 2020
In this letter to the minister, we recommend the average rate cap be set equal to the December CPI forecast for 2021–22 from the Department of Treasury and Finance. We also recommend that a uniform cap continue to apply for all councils in 2021–22.
(pdf, 55.13 KB)
13 December 2019
In this letter to the minister, we recommend the average rate cap be set equal to the December CPI forecast for 2020–21 from the Department of Treasury and Finance. We also recommend that a uniform cap continue to apply for all councils in 2020–21.
(pdf, 389.84 KB)
20 December 2018
In this letter to the Minister for Local Government, we recommended our revised formula for the average rate cap, which applies a 90 per cent weighting to the CPI component and 10 per cent weighting to the WPI component (fixed at its value at the time the Fair Go Rates system was introduced).
(pdf, 661.3 KB)
21 December 2017
We recommend our formula for the average rate cap, which applies a 60 per cent weighting to CPI and 40 per cent weighting to WPI, less an efficiency factor.
(pdf, 20.66 KB)