Property rates and charges explained

Rate revenue is crucial to ensure we can continue to maintain community assets, build new infrastructure and provide over 120 services to our community.

Learn how rates are calculated and what your charges pay for.

How are rates and charges calculated?

Once we establish a budget and determine our income from fees, charges and other government sources, we set a 'rate percentage' for the financial year.

The rate percentage differs depending on the property type. There are 5 different property types.

Property types

Property type	Property use
Residential Land	Land used primarily for residential purposes or land which is currently vacant but can be developed for residential purposes.
Sub Standard Vacant Land	Land that can't be built on because of its locality and zoning under the planning scheme where there is an adopted restructure plan.
Commercial Land	Land used primarily for the sale of goods, services or other commercial purposes, or vacant land within a commercial planning zone.
Industrial Land	Land used primarily for industrial purposes or vacant land within an industrial planning zone.
Farm Land	If you own a farm you can apply for a Farm Land rate, which will reduce rate charges. To be eligible for this rate, you need to meet the following criteria:  the land must be more than two hectares be used for primary production.

Capital improved value calculations

The capital improved value (CIV) is used to calculate differential rates on these property types. Capital improved value refers to the total market value of the land plus buildings and other improvements.

Differential rate	Rate in the dollar (2024 to 2025)	No. of assessments	Rates 2024 to 2025	Proportion of total rates and charges %
Residential Land	$0.0024943	62,499	$126,918,155	87.11%
Vacant Sub Standard Land	$0.0024943	328	$37,202	0.02%
Commercial Land	$0.0037415	2334	$5,479,655	5.99%
Industrial Land	$0.0037415	1,074	$8,970,452	3.08%
Farm Land	$0.0017415	1,599	$4,735,654	3.80%

An example of the calculation for a property worth $800,000 is shown in the table below.

 

Multiple rate notices

Properties containing multiple parts that are able to be separately occupied will receive multiple rate notices. We issue a separate rate notice for each part of a property that is able to be separately occupied.

Examples of properties that will receive more than one rate notice include: granny flats, bed and breakfasts, farm managers houses, retirement village units and shopping centres.

In some cases, a second occupancy is built on the provision that it must be removed when the person it was built for no longer lives in that unit. This unit's value will still be rated as rate calculations are applied based on the conditions that currently exist.

For more information on granny flats, view our planning advice page

Charges

Waste charges

A fixed charge applies for the collection and disposal of waste from properties.  Find more information on waste charges.

Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund Levy

The Victorian Government introduced the Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund (ESVF) which means that from 1 July 2025, the Fire Services Property Levy was replaced with the ESVF.

Visit the State Revenue Office website for more information about the ESVF and how it is calculated. 

This fund also has a rebate scheme for eligible CFA and VICSES volunteers for their principal place of residence (PPR) or farm. If you believe you are entitled to the eligible volunteers rebate, please contact the Department of Government Services.