Under the Local Government Act 2020, Council must prepare and adopt a Revenue and Rating Plan by 30 June 2025.

Over the past six months, Council officers have worked closely with Councillors to understand their priorities for how rates and charges should be managed now and over the next four years.

Following a series of Council briefings, a draft Revenue and Rating Plan has been developed — and we’re now seeking community feedback before it is finalised.

The Revenue and Rating Plan sets the framework for how Council manages its revenue, including how rates and charges are applied each year.

Its purpose is to outline the most appropriate approach to revenue and rating for the City of Ballarat. Alongside other income sources, it helps ensure Council can fund the priorities set out in the Council Plan.

The plan:
• Lists each type of rate Council uses and how they relate to one another
• Explains how Council sets user fees and charges
• Guides how the overall rates burden is distributed across property types

Importantly, it does not set the total amount of rates and charges each year — it simply outlines how those amounts are shared between different categories of properties.

The Revenue and Rating Plan is part of the City’s Integrated Strategic Planning Framework.

We’re proposing a few changes to the existing Revenue and Rating Plan.

While many changes are minor (such as wording and formatting), there are some key updates to note:

• The Commercial, Industrial and Recreational 2 categories will be combined into a single Business classification.
• Residential and Rural Residential categories will be combined into one Residential classification.
• The Recreation 1 category will be renamed to simply Recreation.

These new classifications are based on existing definitions and do not change how the categories are applied.

The draft plan does not propose any changes to the existing differential rates (the ratios between categories).

• The Residential category remains the base rate.
• The Business category continues to be set at 250% of the Residential rate.

You can view the full draft plan below:

We want to hear your thoughts. Please complete our short questionnaire below to share your feedback on the draft plan.

Your input will help shape Council’s long-term approach to how rates and charges are managed. All responses will be reviewed and presented to Councillors before the plan is finalised.

If you prefer a paper copy of the questionnaire, you can download one or request to have it sent to you.