Lidsdale Rating Category Review

​Proposed Change of Rating Sub-category – Removal of Lidsdale Sub-Category and change to General (Rural) Sub-category

At the 27 July 2020 meeting, Council endorsed in principle the removal of the Lidsdale business and residential rating sub-categories and to move Lidsdale ratepayers to the General (Rural) sub-categories.

Why is Council proposing to remove the Lidsdale rating sub-category?

The Local Government Act requires Councils to “provide a system of local taxation, based on rates levied on property, which is simple, fair, broadly uniform”… The objectives of the Act have been considered by Council in an ongoing review of the rating structure.

There are only a small number of ratepayers in the Lidsdale rating sub-categories with no significant distinction between the Lidsdale rating sub-categories and the General (Rural) sub-categories.

Removal of the Lidsdale rating sub-categories would simplify the structure of Council’s rating system. Rating sub-categories would only be set for the largest towns and villages (being Lithgow, Wallerawang and Portland) with all other ratepayers being in the (Rural) general sub-categories.

The change would remove the anomaly of Lidsdale being the only smaller village with its own rating sub-categories.

What is the timeline for the change? Ratepayers have the opportunity to comment on the proposed change in a submission to Council. Submissions are open until 15 February 2021. All submissions will be considered by Council at the March 2021 meeting before Council determines whether to proceed with the change. Affected residents will be informed in April 2021 if Council determines to proceed with the change. If approved by Council, the change to the rating sub-categories would take effect from 1 July 2021. What is the financial impact on Lidsdale ratepayers?

Council will not receive any extra revenue from the proposed change to the rating structure as the Council’s total rates revenue can only be increased by a set amount each year (the rate peg) as directed by the NSW Independent Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The proposed changes only affect how rates are calculated and distributed across the Local Government Area.