Rates and charges

General rates

General rates are for services, facilities and activities that are supplied or undertaken for the benefit of the community in general (rather than a particular person). Council is required to raise an appropriate amount of revenue to maintain assets and provide services to the Region as a whole. In deciding how the revenue is raised council considered:

• the rateable value of the land and the benefit of averaging valuations,
• relative valuation as between different types of land,
• the approach to general rating adopted by the Toowoomba Regional Council for the 2010/2011 financial year, and
• the demand that some land uses place on the services which council is required to provide

Separate charges

Separate charges are for any other service, facility or activity that is not funded through other rates and charges. Council levies the following separate charges on all rateable land:

• Park and bushland levy
• Environmental levy
• Natural resource management levy

Special charges

Special charge are for services, facilities and activities that have a special association with particular land. Council levies a rural fire equipment levy on all rateable assessments in the region, other than rateable assessments that are liable to pay an urban district fire levy, to fund the ongoing provision and maintenance of rural fire fighting equipment for the rural fire brigades that operate throughout the rural areas of the region.

Utility charges

Utility charges are for a service, facility or activity for:

• Water
• Sewerage
• Waste management