The Draft Budget 2026-27 supports the delivery of services and major initiatives under 30 services categories to the community and includes $30.3 million of spend on community infrastructure.

These services comprise council programs that respond to local community needs, and commonwealth and state government programs. They are delivered in partnership with the local community, other tiers of government and other agencies.

Every council collects rates from residents and businesses in its municipality to help fund local infrastructure and services. Bass Coast uses the independently assessed property values as the basis for distributing the rating burden across the municipality.

All Victorian Councils are required to collect this levy on behalf of the Victorian Government and must pass the full amount on to the State Revenue Office.

The Levy will continue to appear as a separate charge on your Council rates.

This replaces the Fire Services Property Levy (FSPL) which our community currently pays together with their Council rates.

In broad terms, the total amount of money to be raised in general rates is divided by the total value of all rateable properties in the municipality. The resulting figure is called ‘the rate in the dollar’.

The council determines the amount to be paid in rates by applying the rate in the dollar to the assessed value of each property. For example:

If council plans to raise the total rate revenue of $10 million, and the total Capital Improved Value of all rateable properties in the municipality is $2.38 billion, then the rate in the dollar is calculated by dividing $10 million by $2.38 billion = 0.0042 cents in the dollar.

When the total value of all properties goes up, the council reduces the rate in the dollar to compensate.

A property’s rates are calculated by multiplying the valuation of the property by the rate in the dollar. For example, if the Capital Improved Value of a property is $250,000 and the council rate in the dollar is set at 0.0042 cents, the rate bill would be $1,050 ($250,000 x 0.0042).

Your rate notice will provide specific details on how your rates are calculated.

Your property’s valuation will directly affect your rates. If your valuation increases by more than other properties within the Shire, your rates will generally be higher.

Councils do not collect extra revenue as a result of changes in property valuations. Valuations are simply used to help calculate the rates payable for each individual property.

Differential rates are where councils set different rates in the dollar for different categories of rateable land. Bass Coast has a differential rates for farmland.

Differential rates are usually used to achieve greater equity or efficiency.

Please refer to the Draft Revenue and Rating Plan further details on the types and value of the differentials used by Bass Coast Shire Council.