FAQ

The DPOP is Council’s response to the Community Strategic Plan – Shoalhaven 2027. It maps out Council’s four-year Goals and one-year Actions, as prioritised by the community. The Actions are budgeted and resourced activities that Council will undertake over the next financial year (2021-22).

The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Council’s resources continues to be monitored. Council is committed to operating in a financially responsible manner, and any necessary adjustments to the 2021/22 Budget will be put forward for consideration through the quarterly budget review process, or sooner if required.

Once the consultation period for the DPOP and Budget has finished, a report on the consultation findings will be provided to Council along with proposed changes to the draft plans. When Council has adopted the report, the documents will be finalised and ready for the start of the new financial year (July 1, 2021).

Council is obligated by the Local Government Act 1993 to collect rates from all property owners in the Shoalhaven. The funds received from ratepayers are used to finance services, facilities and infrastructure in our city. While we also collect income from other sources such as ‘user pays’ arrangements and our commercial businesses, rates are Council’s largest and most important source of revenue.

Every three years, all rateable land within Council’s Local Government Area undergoes a compulsory, independent revaluation by the NSW Valuer General. These land values provide the basis for how rates are determined, along with the permissible rate Council can increase its total rate income over the previous year, which is set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). For the 2021-2022 financial year, Council will use the same values as last year to calculate the rates and will increase total rate income by a total of 2.0% from the previous year.

More information about how rates are calculated can be found on the Rates Information & FAQs web page.

Considering the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shoalhaven City Council will increase rates only by the 2.0% rate peg.

The increase in rates revenue will allow Council to maintain financial sustainability and generate sufficient revenue to deliver the services and infrastructure to meet community needs and expectations.

To calculate an estimate of your rates for the coming 2021/2022 rating year, visit our Rates Calculator.

Capital Projects planned for 2021-22 are included on pages 112-133 of the DPOP/Budget document, listed by Ward Area. You can also see some of the highlighted projects planned for your neighbourhood in the My Area Map on Council's website. The allocation of capital projects to Wards is based on the geographical location of the projects and did not take into account the City-wide benefit factor. For example, Waste and Water Services projects benefit communities across all Wards. 

Similarly, the Moss Vale Rd Urban Release Area developments have been included in the Ward 1 listing. However, this development will provide new housing and infrastructure that will benefit the Local Government Area as a whole. An updated list of capital projects that have significant benefits to wider community will be allocated to the “City-Wide Benefit” category in the final documents to be considered by Council for adoption. 

You can also look through the 10 year Indicative Capital Works Program from page 136 of the DPOP/Budget document. 

This is a forward planning document, which means that many projects have not been through a detailed design phase which could alter the timing of delivery. Some projects may be re-phased to a later date, while others are bought forward and delivered sooner than expected.

Council is planning the delivery of a large program of improvements to footpaths and cycling infrastructure over the coming year. Many of these projects will depend on grant funding from the NSW and Federal Governments. The full list of pedestrian and cycling improvement projects can be found on page 125 of the DPOP/Budget document.

Council is actively seeking and adopting emerging technologies to manage our waste and opportunities for further recycling. There are several factors which have resulted in the proposed increase in waste charges for 2021-22.

Key factors behind waste charge increase:

China’s imposed restrictions on accepting recyclable materials from Australia and other western countries has increased the cost of recycling.  Shoalhaven City Council’s cost to manage these recyclables increased by another $1.5 million in 2020. Council is proactively addressing this by constructing a glass recycling facility, which manufactures a glass sand product used within the local market; and planning for the development of a state of the art sorting facility in 2022 to process recycling into clean products.

• The continued popularity of the Return and Earn container deposit scheme has reduced the revenue stream for the yellow bin recycling companies. This loss is passed directly onto Council.
• The State Government levy imposed on councils for every tonne of waste disposed continues to rise annually.
• Council is committed to cutting-edge technology that will see the commissioning of a Bioelektra plant to sterilise, sort and re-use red lid bin waste in innovative ways.  This state of-the-art facility will be Australia’s first Advanced Waste Treatment plant capable of diverting over 90% of mixed waste from landfill.  Works will commence in late 2021 and the facility is expected to be fully operational by 2023. Learn more about the Bioelektra plant initiative here.
• Council provides each ratepayer with 2 general household waste vouchers to redeem the cost of disposal at the depot or to redeem the cost for a green or bulky waste pick-up service.   A further 2 green waste vouchers will be provided to each ratepayer annually to cover the cost of disposing of green waste. These initiatives reduce Council’s revenue.
• A number of grant applications have been submitted to reduce the cost for Council to build our own recycling sorting facility.  The facility will be operated by Council and will increase our flexibility to respond to an everchanging marketplace.  With Council containing the operating costs and receiving income from the sales of high-quality sorted products, this initiative will help reduce Council’s operational costs and increase revenue.