YOUR RATES AT WORK - 2025/26 Budget

Council provides a wide range of services and infrastructure, from roads, waste collection, wastewater and water services to libraries, parks, pools, animal management, economic development, planning and environment and community programs. Some costs are visible, like new footpaths and park upgrades. Others, like maintaining critical infrastructure, planning, and service administration and advocacy are less obvious but just as important.

Each year, Council prepares a budget that balances community needs, infrastructure priorities, and available funding. It’s shaped by strategic planning, service reviews, and legislation—all with consideration to rising costs and available revenue.

Council staff use important planning documents to help shape the budget. These include things like the corporate plan (our big-picture goals), the operational plan (what we’re doing this year), and the asset management plans (how we look after things like roads, parks and buildings). 

To plan how much money Council needs—and where it’s going to come from—Council considers a variety of factors, like how much services cost, the level of service required, any risks or legal requirements, what grant funding is available and the overall economy. 

Before Council considers raising rates or charges, grants, contributions, or other means of raising revenue are considered. 

Budget planning usually kicks off between January and March. During this time, managers and coordinators work on their area’s budget, and the Finance team brings everything together. This draft budget then goes to Council’s leadership team, Councillors and the Mayor for briefing and feedback—this process can take up to 4 months as changes are incorporated. Once all of the feedback has been considered and the draft budget has been fully compiled, it goes to the elected members one final time for voting and adoption. At this meeting the elected members can implement their final amendments.

Your rates go toward a mix of essential services. For example:

• A large portion goes to roads, transport and maintenance
• Some supports community services like parks, libraries, and events
• A portion covers internal operations and regulatory responsibilities 

The aim is to keep the balance fair and focused on long term value for residents.

The costs of delivering services are subject to national economic inflation. Things such as fuel, materials, labour, insurances, and leasing are all expenses that increase over time and need to be accounted for in the budget. Council works hard to keep rate increases modest while continuing to invest in vital infrastructure and services.

We understand it can feel frustrating when property values rise and rate notices change. The change in your valuation doesn’t mean your rates will change by the same amount. Council adjusts the “rate in the dollar” down when values go up, to moderate valuation changes.

It’s important to note that Council does not set property values as these are independently assessed by the State Government. While Council sets the overall general rate to pay for essential services, individual rates are levied based on property valuations. In many cases, changes to land values don’t mean Council is collecting more money overall—they simply affect how rates are divided among property owners.  

While the total valuation for the region may have increased by 30%, the total required revenue from rates is budgeted to increase by only 7.4%.  A change to your valuation only means your distributed portion of the general rate may have changed.

Council is facing rising costs across the board—from bitumen and fuel to staff wages and electricity. We’ve worked hard to keep rate rises as fair and modest as possible over the years, while still maintaining the roads, waste services, community programs, and infrastructure that our communities rely on. This year’s increase reflects the real cost of delivering essential services and investment in the sustainable growth of our region.

Council works hard to make sure funding goes where it’s needed most. Factors like safety, risk, the laws that must be followed, long-term planning, and how much benefit a project brings to the community are considered. 

Essential services—like roads, water, wastewater, waste, and safety—always come first. After that, the focus is on projects that help our community grow, improve liveability, and support the local economy. Projects are also ranked based on how much money is available. This helps the choice about what can be done in the coming year. 

When it comes to day-to-day services, things are grouped into five types:

• Essential - must-do, legally required
• Core - basic services
• Community - things that help people connect
• Corporate - internal support services
• Discretionary - extras we fund when possible 

The aim is to strike a balance between service levels, cost, and risk to get the best results for the community with the money that is available.

We completely understand that many households are doing it tough right now. Last year in the height of inflation, Council kept the average residential rate rise to just 2.42%, well below the increased costs to Council of providing services.

Council has carefully considered this in again setting the 2025/26 budget. The cost of delivering services has continued to rise in line with national economic inflation — from materials and labour, to insurance and energy. We’ve worked hard to keep rate increases modest while still ensuring essential services continue and our region remains safe, connected, and supported.

Remember that if you are having difficulties paying your bill, please speak to our friendly and understanding staff about a payment plan.

We know road maintenance is a top priority for many residents, and we’re continually working to improve our road network. Grading schedules are based on several factors, including traffic volumes, safety, weather impacts, and available funding. Council has a detailed capital works and maintenance program that outlines planned upgrades and routine grading across the region. You can view the full proposed 2025/26 expenditure on capital works in the 2025/26 SDRC Budget on our website.

Behind every service is a team of people, systems, and compliance costs that make it possible. Reducing “admin” sounds simple, but most back-end costs support frontline services, like payroll, for example. Council continually reviews operations to find savings and improve efficiency.

Council doesn’t fund things like schools, hospitals, police, national parks or main roads as these are State or Federal Government responsibilities. Council focuses on local infrastructure and services that support the liveability and functionality of our region.

No, town water and rubbish charges are separate charges on the rates notice for town residents who have access to these services. If you don’t have access to these services, you do not pay these charges, and they are not subsidised by your rates.

Whether you live in a rural area or a town, your general rates contribute to shared community services that benefit the entire region. Rural residents often visit town centres for things like the library, local pool, sporting facilities, events, and parks.

Rates help fund these services—just as town residents contribute to maintaining rural roads, regional resilience, and regional programs. It’s about ensuring everyone has access to essential infrastructure, no matter where they live.  

As part of the budget drafting process, Council undertook several internal reviews and found significant savings across operations. However, like all households and businesses, some rising costs like materials, services, electricity and insurance are unavoidable. Cutting more deeply would mean reducing or removing essential services that our communities rely on. We believe a modest rate increase is a more balanced way to keep services running while staying financially responsible.

Even if you don’t regularly use facilities like pools or libraries, your rates go toward shared services that benefit the entire region - like rural roads, bushfire and disaster preparedness, animal control, waste facilities, and pest management.

While you may not personally use every service or facility supported by your rates, Council is committed to making these services available for everyone in the community. They’re here when you need them—whether that’s today, tomorrow, or sometime down the track.

Not at all. In fact, the minimum general rate for Residential 1 properties in the Southern Downs is actually below the Queensland average.

It’s also worth taking a closer look at what’s included in your rates notice. In the Southern Downs, essential services like water supply and sewerage maintenance are managed and delivered directly by Council—and those costs are included in the one notice you receive.

In comparison, some larger councils—including Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim, and Somerset—rely on Urban Utilities to deliver those same services. Urban Utilities operates independently from Council, meaning residents in those areas receive a separate bill for water and sewerage, in addition to their council rates notice. When you add those bills together, the difference between their total costs and what you pay here in the Southern Downs isn’t as big as it may first seem.

It’s also important to remember that larger urban councils—like Brisbane or the Gold Coast—have much higher population densities, sometimes around 1,000 people per square kilometre, compared to just 5 people per square kilometre in the Southern Downs. This gives them a broader ratepayer base to share the cost of services, allowing for lower general rates while still collecting more revenue overall.

That’s why comparing rates across different councils can be misleading. Every council operates differently, depending on a range of factors.