South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts153—Declaration of general rate (including differential general rates)
(1) A council may
declare—
(a) a
general rate on all rateable land within its area for a particular financial
year; or
(b)
differential general rates on rateable land within its area for a particular
financial year.
(2) A council must, in
fixing its rates for the purposes of this section, consider issues of
consistency and comparability across council areas in the imposition of rates
on various sectors of the business and wider community.
(3) A council must, in
declaring a general rate under this section, determine whether it will fix a
maximum increase in the general rate to be charged on any rateable land within
its area that constitutes the principal place of residence of a principal
ratepayer (and a council is, by force of this subsection, authorised to fix
such a maximum).
(4) For the purposes
of subsection (3)—
(a) any
maximum increase may be set according to such method as the council thinks
fit; and
(b) the
council may fix conditions that may apply in order for a ratepayer to qualify
for the benefit of a maximum increase (including that some or all of any
increase in the general rate for particular land is not attributable to a
change in the valuation of the land due to development (including by virtue of
a change in use) that has been undertaken (or occurred) in relation to the
land).
(5) A council must
not—
(a)
declare a general rate until after it has adopted its annual business plan and
its budget for the financial year to which the rate relates; and
(b)
except in a case involving extraordinary administrative difficulty, declare a
general rate for a particular financial year after 15 August in that
financial year.