Why do we need to pay rates?

Rates are the primary source of revenue for the City of Swan and other local governments – in 2008-09.

Without rates, you would not have any of the services, facilities or infrastructure local government provides – including necessary roads and waste services.

Unfortunately capital grants from State and Federal governments are declining, which makes the City’s reliance on rates is even greater.

How are rates calculated?

Your rates are calculated based on two values; the Gross Rental Value (GRV) for residential, commercial, industrial and other developed properties; and the Unimproved Value (UV) for rural and undeveloped properties.

• GRV is the estimated yearly rental value of your property and is provided to Council by the Valuer General (a State Government Office). A value for vacant residential, commercial or industrial land is calculated at five per cent of the determined resale value.
• UV is the site value of an unimproved property, also provided to Council by the Valuer General’s office.

Once the Valuer General’s Office forwards these figures to the City of Swan, the City multiplies this value by a rate in the dollar.

For example, if your residential property has a GRV of 13000, multiply this by the City’s residential rate in the dollar of 7.200 cents (that’s 0.07200), and you will pay $936.00 in rates, plus some additional fees and levies for waste collection and Fire and Emergency Services.

Or, if your property is General Rural and has a UV of $500,000, this is multiplied by a rural rate in the dollar, 0.215 cents in the dollar (0.00215), equalling $1075.00 in rates, plus any applicable levies.

What do we get for our money?

Every cent you pay in rates is spent on helping your community.

From the traditional local government responsibilities of roads and waste collection, local governments have expanded tremendously.

Today, the City of Swan provides leisure centres, libraries, parks and gardens, community development programs, support for community groups, strategic urban planning, health services, graffiti removal, community care services, environmental planning and rehabilitation, planning and building services, cultural development, business development, tourism development and much, much more.

What is the Infrastructure Reserve Fund?

The Infrastructure Reserve Fund was established in 2006 to ensure that the City is able to meet its asset replacement requirements, given the City’s ageing infrastructure and need for new infrastructure in developing areas.

The City of Swan has a lot of ageing infrastructure which will be due for replacement or refurbishment soon. To add to the problem, the City’s population is growing at an unprecedented rate, and 50,000 new residents expected in the next 15 years will place a lot of pressure on the City’s resources.

Across Australia, asset replacement is a key issue in local government sustainability – the traditional rate increase in line with CPI does not provide enough revenue to replace or in some cases maintain assets.

This fund goes a long way to ensuring that all our residents, now and in the future, will have access to quality facilities and infrastructure.

I used to get a discount – where is it?

To keep rates as low as possible, the City of Swan has decided to continue its expanded rates prize draw in 2008-09.

The rates discount, in which early payment saved ratepayers 5%, cost the City more than $1.2 million. By replacing the discount with an expanded rates prize draw, the City has saved more than $1 million and has been able to keep rates lower. It has also given you a chance to win dozens of fantastic prizes worth much more than the average discount.

Last year, the City of Swan gave away two cars and close to $60,000 of other prizes, so keep your eye out for information about this year’s early payment rates prize draw. If you’re a ratepayer, information about the prize draw will be sent to you with your rates notice.