New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 536

536 What criteria are relevant in determining the base amount?

(1) In determining a base amount of a rate, the council must have regard to (but is not limited to) the following--

• its general administration and overhead costs

• the extent to which projected ad valorem rates on individual properties do not reflect the cost of providing necessary services and facilities

• the level of grant or similar income available to provide necessary services and facilities

• the degree of congruity and homogeneity between the values of properties subject to the rate and their spread throughout the area

• whether a rate that is wholly an ad valorem rate would result in an uneven distribution of the rate burden because a comparatively high proportion of assessments would bear a comparatively low share of the total rate burden

• in the case of a special rate--the cost of providing the works, services, facilities or activities to the parcels of land subject to the rate (ignoring the rateable value of those parcels).

(2) The council, in having regard to its general administration and overhead costs, must use net costs, with income being included in the calculation of standard costs for all community service functions, library services, recreational and cultural facilities and amenities and the like.