Separating waste service charges from your rates
Council will begin to separate the cost of waste services from general rates to help cover the rising cost of providing waste services to our community.
This is necessary to ensure Yarra City Council's long term financial sustainability.
On this webpage you can find out more about:
- Why we are separating waste service charges from general rates.
- How the waste service charge will affect you.
- Where to go to find out more information and speak
to us.
Why we are making this change
The cost of managing waste and recycling in Victoria is rising. This is creating major challenges for all local councils and the recycling industry.
To meet these challenges and ensure our financial sustainability into the future, Council has decided to separate the cost of waste services from general rates.
This means the cost of providing waste services would be removed from general rates and listed as a separate charge. Being clear on what waste costs, allows us to continue to provide essential waste and recycling services, as well as the full range of services our community rely on, such as libraries, leisure centres and services for the community, for generations to come.
An explanation of this change and an example of what your rates will look like.
The money collected through the waste service charge can only be used to cover the costs of providing waste and recycling services in Yarra.
Yarra is the last council in Victoria to either separate waste service charges from general rates or make a commitment to introduce one in the new financial year.
The cost of providing waste services is increasing greater than how much councils can recover through rates alone.
The rate cap, introduced by the Victorian Government, has capped the amount that councils can charge property owners in rates. The rate cap has averaged 1.75% over the past three years. During the same period, the cost of the Victorian Government waste levy (a levy paid to the Victorian Government by every council based on the amount of waste sent to landfill) has increased by 90%.
The Victorian Government has also introduced laws to reduce waste, make the most of material and increase recycling. These changes have impacted how all local councils manage waste.
It includes a requirement for all councils to provide households with a four-stream waste service (glass, recycling, food and green organics and rubbish). In Yarra, we introduced a glass bin service in 2020.
On your annual rates notice, you are currently charged a single ‘general rate’ based on your property value.
Currently a component of your general rates pays for waste services.
With a separate waste service charge, the cost of providing waste services would be removed from the general rates and listed as a separate line item on your Annual Rates Notice.
Importantly, residents will only be charged for the cost of waste services once, through the separated waste service charges.
The reason for separating waste service charges from general rates is that the amount that councils can charge for general rates is capped by the Victorian Government. By charging for the cost of waste services separately, the Victorian Government’s rate cap would no longer apply. Therefore, Council will be able to start to recover the true cost of providing waste services.
While the rate cap would not apply to the waste service charge, the money collected through the waste service charge can only be used to cover the costs of providing waste and recycling services in Yarra.
When waste services charges are separated from general rates, your rates notice will show the following charges:
- General rates
- Public waste service rate
- Kerbside waste service rate
The public waste service rate covers waste services that benefit the whole community, such as bins in streets and parks, street sweeping and litter removal.
The kerbside waste service rate covers the cost of the regular household rubbish and recycling bin collection service, operating the recycling centre, pre-booked hard rubbish and green waste collections, as well as providing new and replacement bins, transport, fuel, waste management contracts, the cost of processing recyclables and the cost of taking materials to landfill.
This change makes it clear how much we are charging our community for waste services and ensures that we can remain financially sustainable into the future.
The rising cost of waste is affecting every local council.
Yarra is the last council in Victoria to commit to separating waste service charges from general rates.
Without a waste services charge, we will not be able to introduce a food and green organics collection service or introduce other innovations and investments in waste reduction measures. It will also impact our ability to provide other community services like libraries, leisure centres, sporting facilities and support for vulnerable people into the future.
We are addressing this issue now to ensure that we can remain financially sustainable and continue to provide the full range of services our community needs.
The waste service charge will be made up of two elements: a public waste rate and a kerbside waste rate. ‘Rate’ in this instance means that the cost will be scaled based on property value; this is the same way we calculate general rates.
The public waste rate includes services such as street sweeping, park and street bin collection and litter removal, among others.
The kerbside waste rate includes services such as household bin collections and transport, recycling processing, hard and green waste collection and processing, among others.
The kerbside waste rate would only be applied to properties that receive a kerbside waste service from Yarra City Council. Ratepayers who do not receive a kerbside service from Council would be exempt from this charge.
We will continue to support pensioners with a Council rates rebate, in addition to the pensioner rebate provided by the Victorian Government.
As always, we are happy to work with ratepayers to support those who are experiencing financial hardship. If you feel that you are unable to pay, you can request financial hardship support.
Our financial hardship policy aims to provide ratepayers and service users with a clear and transparent understanding of options and assistance available if currently experiencing financial hardship.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this a new tax?
- Will the frequency of my bin collection change?
- Does this mean I’m paying for waste twice?
- Why can’t this extra cost be covered by rates as it has been previously?
- Will the new waste service charge also mean an increase in general rates?
- What will happen in year two?
- How is the waste service charge calculated for residential properties?
- Considering the rate cap for 2023/24 has increased to 3.5%, why then do we need to separate waste service charges from general rates?
- When will City of Yarra residents receive a food organics and green organics (FOGO) bin?
- How do we provide comments?
You can download our full list of frequently asked questions using this link.
How might this affect me?
Find out how the separate waste charges might affect people in a circumstance similar to your own. Click on the hotspots in the examples below that most closely matches your individual circumstances. You can find out more about our personas using this link.
The below property value ranges have been developed to assist our community in identifying how a waste service charge might be applied to different living situations. These ranges have been developed exclusively to assist navigation of these example ‘personas’ and are not suited for any other purposes.
Single Unit Dwellings (E.g. a house)
- Low value: $0 to $1,200,000
- Medium value: $1,200,000 to $1,700,000
- High value: $1,700,000 and above
Multi Unit Dwelling (E.g. a unit or apartment)
- Low value: $0 to $350,000
- Medium value: $350,000 to $600,000
- High value: $600,000 and above
Approximate impact to an individual’s rates notices
Ask your question about the separate waste services charge.
Want to know more about how the waste services charge will affect you and why it was introduced? In addition to our in-person information sessions and engagement opportunities this tool is available for you to ask how the introduction of a separate waste services charge will affect you. Ask your question here and an officer will reply as soon as possible.
This tool uses a moderation system so you may not see your question right away. All responses received will be recorded and kept in line with our Privacy Policy.
Please note: Some questions may not be published if there is specific wording used that may be deemed offensive to some people or the question contains personal or sensitive information. Questions that do not directly relate to the introduction of a separate waste services charge will not be published. Questions and comments that fall outside of how this change will impact you should be directed to Council's traditional customer services channels.
