Where do your rates go?

The rates you pay are used to provide a wide range of essential services and facilities in the Randwick City community. This includes cleaning and maintaining our beaches, parks and town centres as well as investing in new construction projects and upgrades.

Council's activities and projects are outlined in our annual Budget and Operational Plan.

Where your rates go

Major Works and Construction

$37

  • Local Road Rehabilitation Program
  • Footpath Construction Program
  • Buildings for Our Community
  • Coastal Walkway
  • Streetscape Upgrade
  • Drainage Construction Program
  • Park Upgrades

Waste Management

$20

  • Weekly Collection
  • Fortnightly Green Waste Collection
  • Fortnightly Dry Recycling Collection
  • 2 x Scheduled Pick Up Collections
  • 2 x On Call Clean Up Services
  • Operations of Perry Street Recycling Centre
  • Removal of Illegally Dumped Rubbish
  • Remediation of Contaminated Sites
  • Removal of Hazardous Waste
  • Waste Education Programs
  • E-Waste and Mattress Collection

Parks, Recreation and Culture

$11

  • Des Renford Leisure Centre
  • Council events
  • Maintaining parks and sports fields
  • Maintain park equipment and facilities
  • Prince Henry Centre
  • Randwick Environment Park and Community Centre
  • Randwick Cemetery

Library and Community Services

$8

  • Bowen Library (Maroubra)
  • Margaret Martin Library (Randwick)
  • Malabar Library
  • Home maintenance and modification services
  • Moverly Childrens Centre
  • Community programs and partnerships
  • Cultural and community grants program
  • Aboriginal programs
  • Youth and children programs

Public Safety

$5

  • Food inspections
  • Building inspections
  • Building regulation enforcement
  • Rangers
  • Fire safety and protection
  • Animal control
  • Environmental protection enforcement

Maintaining Roads, Footpaths and Drains

$4

  • Street cleaning
  • Street sweeping
  • Road pavement repairs
  • Footpath repairs
  • Line marking
  • Drainage clearing
  • Kerb and gutter repairs

Planning and Development

$4

  • Town planning
  • Development Application assessments
  • Strategic planning
  • Local environment planning
  • Development control planning

State Government Charges

$3

Cost Shifting from the State Government including:

  • Fire Brigade Levy
  • State Emergency Levy
  • Valuation Fees
  • Street Lighting Charges
  • Department of Planning Charges

Our Beaches

$3

  • Beach inspectors
  • Beach promenade cleaning
  • Beach cleaning

Engineering and Traffic

$2

  • Asset planning
  • Construction design
  • Engineering services
  • Asset management services

Governance

$1

Costs relating to the Council's role as a component of democratic government, including

  • Elections
  • Members' fees and expenses
  • Subscriptions to local authority associations
  • Meetings of council and policy making committees
  • Area representation and
  • Public disclosure

Environmental Sustainability

$2

  • Sustaining Our City Program
  • Community education programs
  • Biodiversity programs
  • Climate Protection initiatives
  • Bushland remediation and maintenance

Cost Shifting on to Local Government

The pressure on Councils to continue to provide services of appropriate standard to our communities is now extraordinary. The growth of cost shifting by the State Government on to local Councils, coupled with rate pegging, is increasingly eroding any possibility of financially sustainable local government and risking the capacity of councils to deliver tailored, grassroots services to our communities and properly deliver and maintain vital local infrastructure.

As shown in the below cost shifting report produced by independent consultants Morrison Low on behalf of LGNSW for the 2021/2022 financial year, an amount of $1.36 billion of expense has been passed on to Councils to fund. This is an increase of $540 million since the last report from the 2017/2018 financial year and represents lost services, lost opportunities and lost amenity for all our residents and businesses. On average, this represents an additional cost of $460.67 for every ratepayer across the state.

At its Ordinary meeting held 26th March 2024, Council resolved to receive and note the findings of the LGNSW Cost Shifting report for the 2021/2022 financial year and to place the below cost shifting report on Council’s website. Council will also be writing to the Premier, the NSW Treasurer and the NSW Minister for Local Government seeking that they urgently seek to address these costs through a combination of regulatory reform, budgetary provision and appropriate funding.

LGNSW Cost Shifting Report

Last Updated: 9 April 2024
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