As a Council, we’re committed to delivering essential services and maintaining public amenities that enhance our community’s quality of life.
The cornerstone of our funding comes from property taxes known as ‘rates’. Rates are based on the assessed value of each property and play a crucial role in sustaining our community’s well-being and supporting essential services. They fund vital infrastructure projects, maintain public facilities, and ensure the delivery of essential services such as waste management, roads, and parks. By paying your rates, you contribute directly to the continued growth and development of our region.
Below you’ll find information to guide you in fulfilling your role as a valued ratepayer, including details on rate charges, payment terms and concessions.
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Paying Your Rates
Payments
Rates are now due in four equal instalments to provide greater flexibility and alleviate the financial burden of needing to pay upfront.
Instalment due dates:
- 31 August 2026
- 30 November 2026
- 28 February 2027
- 31 May 2027
Larger amounts can still be paid at any time, including paying the total balance in full.
You can conveniently pay for your rates by clicking the button below.
Direct Debit for Rates
A direct debit from a nominated bank account can be set up to pay your rates. This can be done weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly on a continuous basis or with a nominated finish date. Please contact the Rates Office to discuss the amount required to be paid. You may opt to do a one-off annual payment. If opting for the annual direct debit, this must be applied for each year it is required. It is not an ongoing arrangement.
Rates discount
Our Council determines the level of early payment discount it offers when setting rates each year. The discount for the 2026-27 financial year is 2.5% (excluding the fire levy) for rates paid in full by 31 August 2026.
Late payments
The Council will be charging interest on overdue balances. Ratepayers who cannot pay their balance by the due dates are strongly encouraged to set up payment plans by contacting our Rates Office.
Rates Notices by Email
If you would like to receive your rates notices by email, please fill out the form by clicking on the button below. Please note this means paper copies will cease to be sent.
Changes to Waste Charges
Council has changed the way waste services are shown and funded through rates to provide greater transparency about the cost of delivering these services.
Different charges fund different components of Council’s waste services. Properties receiving kerbside collections continue to pay a Kerbside Collection Charge, while all rateable properties pay the Municipal Waste Charge for the broader waste services provided across the municipality. Eligible rural properties that receive waste vouchers also pay the Waste Service Voucher Charge.
Previously, some of these costs were funded through the General Rate. Separately identifying them on rates notices makes the cost of providing waste services clearer and better aligns the revenue collected for waste with the cost of delivering those services.
This approach is also consistent with the way waste costs are recovered by many other councils across North West Tasmania.
Waste Charges FAQs
Council’s waste charges for 2026–27 are:
Kerbside Collection Charge: Formerly called the Waste Levy, this is the existing charge for properties that receive Council’s kerbside waste, recycling and FOGO collection services.
Municipal Waste Charge: A charge that applies to all rateable properties and contributes to the cost of waste and litter management services provided across the municipality, including subsidisation of the resource recovery centre.
Waste Service Voucher Charge: A charge for eligible rural properties that receive waste vouchers to use Council’s Country Transfer Stations and Resource Recovery Centre in place of a kerbside collection service.
The cost of providing waste services continues to increase.
Council is experiencing higher transport and processing costs, increased environmental and regulatory requirements, the need to improve recycling and resource recovery, and the long-term costs associated with managing and rehabilitating waste facilities.
The Tasmanian Government Waste Levy is also contributing to these costs. Introduced in July 2022 at $20 per tonne, the levy has progressively increased to $70.56 per tonne. Its purpose is to encourage waste reduction, recycling and resource recovery and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Council needs to ensure its waste services remain financially sustainable as these costs increase.
Separately identifying waste charges provides greater transparency about what these services cost and creates a clearer link between the cost of providing waste services and the revenue collected to fund them.
The new waste charges are not additional to what Council would otherwise have collected through rates.
Council determines the total rates revenue required each year to fund its services and operations. For 2026–27, Council has changed how part of that revenue is collected by separately identifying costs associated with waste services that were previously funded, or partly funded, through the General Rate.
This change has been accompanied by an adjustment to the rate in the dollar for the General Rate.
The effect on individual properties will vary depending on property value and the waste services that apply to the property.
Waste services extend beyond household garbage, recycling and FOGO collections.
Council provides a range of waste and litter management services across the municipality that benefit residents, businesses, property owners and visitors. These services help keep our towns, public spaces and community facilities clean, safe and attractive.
Applying the Municipal Waste Charge to all rateable properties recognises these broader community benefits.
It also makes the cost of these services more transparent by separately identifying waste-related costs rather than funding them through the General Rate.
The Municipal Waste Charge contributes to broader waste and litter management services across the municipality, including:
- emptying public litter bins in parks, streets, shopping areas and community facilities
- collecting rubbish from town centres and public spaces
- waste-related cleaning and servicing of parks, reserves, playgrounds and beaches
- responding to illegal dumping and litter
- providing waste and recycling facilities at public amenities and community events
- waste education and initiatives to reduce waste and improve recycling outcomes
- other municipal waste management activities and associated costs.
The Waste Service Voucher Charge contributes to the cost of providing waste services for eligible rural properties that receive waste vouchers.
This includes operating and maintaining Council’s Country Transfer Stations at Castra, Preston and South Riana, as well as applicable Tasmanian Government Waste Levy costs and the cost of transferring material to regional waste facilities for processing.
The Waste Service Voucher Charge separately identifies the cost associated with providing this service, making the way Council funds waste services more transparent.
The charge applies to eligible properties that have previously received waste vouchers that can be redeemed at Council’s Country Transfer Stations or Resource Recovery Centre.
As part of the broader change to Council’s rating structure, costs that were previously funded through the General Rate are now more clearly identified as waste-related charges.
The Waste Service Voucher Charge is not currently an opt-in or opt-out service.
Council may consider alternative arrangements in the future. Any change would need to take into account the effect on other users, the cost of operating the service and the ongoing viability of providing Country Transfer Station services to rural communities.
Remissions, Rebates & Financial Assistance
Pensioner Rates Remission
To be entitled to apply, the Local Government (Rates and Charges Remissions) Act 1991 requires that a ratepayer must be an eligible pensioner and must occupy the property as his or her principal dwelling on or prior to 1 July of the rating year.
To be an eligible pensioner you must have:
- a Services Australia Pensioner Concession Card OR
- a Repatriation Health Card ie ‘Gold Card’ endorsed War Widow/Widower DVA or TPI OR
- a Services Australia Health Care Card (Possession of an Australian Government Seniors Health Card does not qualify the holder for a rates remission).
Applications for rates remissions must be received by the Council by 31 March of any year in which the rates are calculated.
Conservation Covenant Rate Rebate
Council supports landholders who permanently protect high conservation value land with a conservation covenant.
Eligible landowners can apply for a rate rebate of $5 per hectare per year (minimum $50, maximum $500) if their land is covenanted under the Private Forest Reserves Program or the Protected Areas on Private Land Program (Tasmanian Nature Conservation Act 2002).
Eligibility is based on properties listed annually by the Department of Natural Resources & Environment.
Landholders must apply to Council to receive the rebate.
Applying for Financial Hardship Assistance
A ratepayer who is having difficulty in paying rates should contact the Council at the earliest opportunity to arrange a payment schedule that is agreeable both to the Council and the ratepayer. This is essential to avoid the Council taking legal action to recover the outstanding rates.
A ratepayer may also apply to the Council to defer the payment of rates on the grounds of hardship. An application has to be in writing and must be lodged with the Council’s Chief Executive Officer.
A council may grant or refuse a deferral application. Any granted deferral may be subject to a condition that the ratepayer pay interest on the amount due.
All applications for financial hardship assistance will be assessed in accordance with the Central Coast Council’s Financial Hardship Assistance Policy.
To seek financial hardship assistance from the Council, please complete the Electronic Rates Hardship Application Form using the link below and submit it along with any supporting documents to the Chief Executive Officer.
A copy of the Financial Hardship Assistance Policy is available for download below.
If you require assistance to complete the form, please contact our Rates Office on 03 6429 8900.
Rates and Charges Policy
Council’s Rates and Charges Policy explains how rates and service charges are determined and applied across the Central Coast.
Rates FAQs
We have made some important changes to the way we structure Rates & Charges. The below FAQs are designed to answer any questions you might have related to our rates and charges for the 2026-27 financial year. If you are still unsure and would like some more information, please contact our friendly staff.
Rates are adjusted in line with the Council Cost Index (CCI) to ensure the financial sustainability of the Council. Over the past five years, Council rates have increased by 17.3% for the average residential property, while the Council Cost Index (CCI) published by Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT) has increased by 20.0% during the same period.
Holding prices down indefinitely has the impact of falling behind on critical upgrades and services – costs that continue to grow over time. To effectively respond and continue to deliver the same level of services, prices must also increase.
Council must balance its service levels with the needs and expectations of the community and set appropriate levels of tax to adequately fulfil its roles and responsibilities.
Rates and Charges are an important source of revenue for Council, representing some 55% of the total revenue estimated to be received by Council in 2026-27.
The rates and charges are set each year by Council in close consultation with management.
We recognise that a rate increase can pose financial challenges for some residents. If you are experiencing financial hardship, please contact our Rates Office on 03 6429 8900 to discuss an agreed payment plan, or for information on what assistance programs are available.
Yes – a payment plan can be arranged to assist ratepayers making payments.
Payment plans can be made on a frequency and amount that suits ratepayers budget, but the plan must cover your current rates balance by 31 May to be eligible.
Payment plans may still incur interest charges on any overdue portion of rates.
To avoid interest charges, the payment plan must be sufficient to cover the quarterly instalment due date obligation.
If a ratepayer has an agreed payment plan, debt recovery action is put on hold by the Council.
The Council will be charging interest on overdue balances.
Ratepayers who cannot pay their balance by the due dates are strongly encouraged to set up payment plans by contacting our Rates Office.
Interest will be charged if any of the due dates are not met. The overdue interest rate is as prescribed under section 128 of the Local Government Act 1993 and is calculated daily and charged at the end of each month.
Ratepayers will continue paying interest on overdue rates and charges until we receive full payment of the outstanding amount.
The Council recognises cases of genuine hardship requiring compassion in special circumstances. Ratepayers that are experiencing difficulty in paying are encouraged to contact the Council’s Rates Office.
Interest charges may be considered for relief or waived under limited circumstances.
Requests for relief must be in writing, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Refer to Applying for Financial Hardship Assistance at the bottom of this page.
Consideration will be given to:
- Genuine financial hardship: Ratepayers experiencing significant financial difficulties may be eligible for an interest waiver upon proving supporting evidence in line with the Council policy.
- First time offence: Consideration will be given to those ratepayers who have incurred charges for the first time and have a history of good payment behaviour including timely communication with Council.
There are a number of not-for-profit and government funded organisations that can assist with financial assistance and budget planning services. Ratepayers are encouraged to reach out if they are experiencing financial difficulty.
Resources:
National Debt Helpline
Phone: 1800 007 007
Website: https://ndh.org.au/
The Salvation Army
Phone: 03 6208 1488
Website: https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/need-help/financial-assistance/
Anglicare Tasmania
Phone: 1800 243 232
Website: https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/financial-counselling/
Rural Financial Counselling Service Tasmania
Phone: 03 6272 5992
Website: https://www.rfcstasmania.com.au