Rates

Rates are a form of income levied by local government, their purpose is to support the Council in providing services for the benefit of the community. Revenue raised from rates contributes to Council expenses such as:

• The upkeep of roads and public buildings
• Contributions towards tourism and marketing
• The maintenance of public areas, including: picnic areas, sports fields and reserves

In May 2016 amendments were made to the applied Local Government Act 1993 (NSW)(NI) compelling Norfolk Island to introduce an ordinary land rate.

Rates levies for the financial year 2016-17 and 2017-18 consisted of a base charge only. From 2018-19 rates notices have included a base charge and an Ad Valorem component, the latter is based on your land valuation.

Registered owner(s) of land on which a rate is levied are liable to pay rates to the Council. If someone other than the owner is paying the rates, Council should be notified accordingly.

Certain land is exempt from rates, such as land owned by the crown (excluding leased land) as well as some land within the KAVHA area.

Rates notices are posted to ratepayers allowing 30 days before the first payment is due.

Rates can be paid on the instalment date, or in full.

There are four instalment due dates being: 31 August, 30 November, 28 February and 31 May.

Methods of payment are outlined on the back of your rates notice and include:

• in person to Customer Care
• by mail to PO Box 95, Norfolk Island 2899. Cheques should be made payable to the Norfolk Island Regional Council and marked ‘Not Negotiable’
• by phoning 0100 between 9:00am and 4:00m, Monday to Friday with your credit card and property details (please note a credit card surcharge will apply)
• by BPAY, refer to the details on your rates notice

You can check the balance owing on your rates account by phoning Customer Care or by emailing customercare@nirc.gov.nf. Staff are happy to provide you with the balance of your rates notice, however, due to privacy restrictions they are unable to provide information relating to another persons rates notice, except in circumstances where the person has expressed in writing to Council that you are authorised to obtain their rating information.

The Norfolk Island Regional Council does not offer a ratepayer discount at this time.

To be eligible for a pensioner discount you must have:

• a Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card or
• a Department of Veteran’s Affairs Repatriation Health “Gold Card” which bears the inscription “War Widow “or “TPI”.

An application form can be collected from Customer Care, or download it from here: Pensioner Concession Form - Rates.

A pensioner rebate is only available on your primary residence.

A letter will be sent to you detailing the rebate that you are entitled to.

If you are having difficulty paying your rates please contact Customer Care at the earliest opportunity to make application for hardship and to arrange a for a payment arrangement to be put in place.

Applications for payment arrangements are reviewed by Council staff who will contact you to discuss a payment schedule that is agreeable to both yourself and the Council. Making an arrangement is important to avoid Council taking legal action to recover outstanding amounts additionally, making a payment arrangement can reduce the amount of rates that you pay as interest charges on overdue amounts can be paused for the duration of the agreement.

A ratepayer may also apply to Council to defer the payment of rates on the grounds of hardship. Application forms are available from Customer Care or can be downloaded from Councils website. These forms must be lodged with the General Manager.

Council may grant, or refuse a deferral application. Any granted deferral may be subject to the condition that the ratepayer pays interest on the amount due.

If a levied amount is not paid on, or before, the date they fall due, the Council will impose an annual interest rate which is calculated daily as determined by the Local Government Act 1993, Sect 566.

If a ratepayer does not pay the rates on his or her property, Council may commence legal action against the ratepayer to recover the outstanding amount. If Council takes such legal action the ratepayer may also be liable for the Councils legal costs associated with the action.

If rates are not paid for a period exceeding three years, Council may sell a property, or part of a property, to recover the unpaid rates. Council may sell by public auction, or by direct sale.

If the owner of a property cannot be found, Council may apply to have that property transferred to the Council.

The Local Government Act 1993 (NSW)(NI) includes rating provisions for Norfolk Island and stipulates three rating categories applicable to Norfolk Island: Residential, Business and Farmland. Where a portion of land cannot be categorised into one of the three categories listed above, the default category is Business.

Definition of the categories from the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW)(NI) are as follows:

Residential

(1) Land is to be categorised as “residential” if it is a parcel of rateable land valued as one assessment and:

1. its dominant use is for residential accommodation (other than as a hotel, motel, guest-house, backpacker hostel or nursing home or any other form of residential accommodation (not being a boarding house or a lodging house) prescribed by the regulations), or
2. in the case of vacant land, it is zoned or otherwise designated for use under an environmental planning instrument (with or without development consent) for residential purposes, or
3. it is rural residential land.

Farmland

(2) Land is to be categorised as "farmland" if it is a parcel of rateable land valued as one assessment and its dominant use is for farming (that is, the business or industry of grazing, animal feedlots, dairying, pig-farming, poultry farming, viticulture, orcharding, bee-keeping, horticulture, vegetable growing, the growing of crops of any kind, forestry or aquaculture within the meaning of the Fisheries Management Act 1994, or any combination of those businesses or industries) which:

1. has a significant and substantial commercial purpose or character, and
2. is engaged in for the purpose of profit on a continuous or repetitive basis (whether or not a profit is actually made).
3. Land is not to be categorised as farmland if it is rural residential land.
4. The regulations may prescribe circumstances in which land is or is not to be categorised as farmland.

Business

(3) Land is to be categorised as "business" if it cannot be categorised as farmland or residential.

You may apply at any time for a review of the categorisation of rateable land. Forms are available at Customer Care or can be downloaded from our website.

The Absentee Landowners Levy Act 1976 (NI) was modified in 2017 to stipulate that the last date that notices could be issued was 15 September 2017. This means that no new absentee landowners levies will be raised after this date, however, if you have any outstanding absentee levy amounts you are still liable to pay these. For information on how you can make payment contact Customer Care.

To establish if amalgamation is possible for your portions of land you will need to consult with the Planning and Development Department who can be contacted on +6723 23595 during business hours. Aggregation of your land may also be possible under the applied legislation; in order to aggregate your land you will need to make application to the General Manager.

If you are considering amalgamating or aggregating your portions of land Council strongly advise that you seek professional, independent legal advice to ascertain if this is the right solution for you.