Amended Revenue & Rating Plan and Revised Budget
Published on 17 July 2025
An amended Revenue & Rating Plan 2025-29 and 2025/26 Revised Budget are scheduled to be presented at the Rural City of Wangaratta’s July council meeting on Tuesday, 22 July.
After the Revenue & Rating Plan was endorsed at the May Council Meeting, council officers conducted final checks on the 2025-26 rates. During this process, it was identified that incorrect application of the rate differential definitions concerning rural properties had been applied when setting this year’s rates in the Budget. This would have led to unintended rating outcomes if the rate notices had been distributed.
In the amended Revenue & Rating Plan, the differential category definitions have been updated and expanded, providing a clearer, fairer, and more equitable distribution of the rating burden across the different land rating categories. A thorough audit of the rates has also been undertaken.
Consequently, these adjustments also require a revised 2025/26 Budget to declare the revised rates and apply associated administrative updates. The recalculation for 2025/26 shows that 75% of property owners will pay lower rates compared to those endorsed in the Revenue & Rating Plan 2025–29 in May.
Council’s compliance with the State Government rate cap remains unchanged, a 3% increase still being applied in 2025/26.
Sarah Brindley, Director - Corporate & Leisure, said:
“This oversight has not affected property owners, as rate notices are scheduled for distribution throughout August. We want to reassure the community that previous rate notices have been accurate, as the recent definition change was not applicable in prior years. Each year, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) independently reviews Council’s compliance with the rate cap. Council have been consistently compliant since monitoring began in 2016–17.”
Irene Grant Rural City of Wangaratta Mayor said:
“Council's intentions for 2025-26 Rates were to provide rate support to farmers on larger agricultural land who have faced recent challenges due to dry conditions, changes to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, and whose rate contribution has increased substantially since 2020. The amended Revenue & Rating Plan 2025-29 and resulting 2025/26 Revised Budget will ensure we have fairer rates for our community.”
Rates notices will be distributed in August. The calculation for individual rate payers is determined via annual property valuations, which are conducted independently of Council by the Victorian Valuer General, and the application of rate category differentials according to the type or class of land. Property owners will see an increase or decrease in their Council rates depending on:
- individual property value, along with
- any change to a property's differential category and the associated differential rate
The Council has options available to assist anyone finding it difficult to pay their rates. Anyone experiencing financial hardship is encouraged to contact the Rates team on 5722 0838 to discuss available options.
The July Council Meeting agenda will be released on Friday, 18 July, and will be available at: wangaratta.vic.gov.au/Your-Council/Council-Meetings/Agendas-and-Minutes.
For further enquiries, please contact Media & Communications Coordinator - Tori Ferguson on t.ferguson@wangaratta.vic.gov.au or 04 73 611 870.