Yes. The City of Playford Annual Business Plan and Budget is based on a 7.91% increase in rate revenue for the year. The impact for individual ratepayers will vary depending on the movement in the capital value of your property. The increase ensures we can deliver the existing services and programs our community values and provide a range of new projects and improved services that our community has told us they want. It also covers rising costs due to inflation and meets budget goals that support long term financial sustainability.

Rates are an important source of income. Rates are used to deliver services, maintain community infrastructure and provide new projects and services. Like all households and businesses, Council is facing rising costs because of high inflation. It means it will cost more to provide the same services in the year ahead.

The 2023/24 budget continues to deliver the services and projects that support our diverse and growing community.

25 core services, over 200 activities
Most of the budget ($104M) goes towards the things we do for our community every day. There are things you have told us are important - maintenance of streets, verges, ovals and playgrounds, waste collection and providing libraries and community centres.

New environmentally sustainable services
Two new services will be introduced this year - a free opt-in green waste service and a boost to our Urban Tree Planting program, meaning more trees in our parks and reserves.

Supporting growth
Seven new people call Playford home every day and will continue to do so for the next 20 years. We will support and manage this growth by investing in infrastructure like roads, stormwater and footpaths.

Investing across the city
Established suburbs will continue to be improved with ongoing upgrades to park and reserves and renewal of roads and footpaths to provide local level connections for existing residents.

Having large new areas and existing suburbs to support means a lot of demand on Council resources. We are focused on supporting the growth of our new communities and improving our established suburbs. Council tries to balance investment in new infrastructure as well as renewing existing infrastructure, with over $19M allocated to renewal works in 2023/24.

Underpinning the plan is over $104M in the delivery of existing services which are made up of over 200 different activities and that are spread right across the city.

Council applies the 7.91% increase to its budgeted rate revenue. This is the rate revenue that Council needs to provide ongoing services for the community.

Council allocates the portion of the budget to be raised from rates across all properties, adopting a fixed charge component in addition to a variable charge component. The effect is that the total rates paid by the community will equal the amount set in the budget.

The higher the number of ratepayers and the higher the total capital values in Playford, the lower the fixed charge and the rate in the dollar will be.

The impact for individual ratepayers will vary depending on the movement in individual property values and any changes in land use.

Council allocates the portion of the budget to be raised from rates across all properties, adopting a fixed charge component (which in total equates to 50 per cent of all rate revenue raised) in addition to a variable charge component (calculated as a rate in the dollar applied to property capital values). The effect is that the total rates paid by the community will equal the amount set in the budget.

Our Council Rates Calculator will also help you estimate your annual rates: Visit the Calculator by clicking this link.

Different council areas have different needs and priorities, making it hard to directly compare rates.

Every council provides different services, in different ways, to different standards. This means there are different costs required to deliver services and makes a fair and equal comparison difficult.

It is also difficult to directly compare similar priced properties across different council areas. The Capital Value of a property incorporates the value of land and improvements and takes a number of indicators into account, including location, general amenities and recent sale activity.

What this means is that a property’s land value would be different if the property was located in a different council area, so the same value property between council areas may not necessarily be a direct comparison.

The City of Playford is in the Green Adelaide Region and is required to collect the Regional Landscape Levy on behalf of the Green Adelaide Board.

The Board uses the Regional Landscape Levy to fund vital natural resource management projects including the management and protection of priority water, land, marine and biodiversity assets.

More information about the Regional Landscape Levy can be found at environment.sa.gov.au/topics/green-adelaide

Yes. Ratepayers who feel they may be eligible for a rate rebate for 2023/24 should first review the Rate Rebate Policy and Application found on our Rate Relief page. Please reach out to our Rates team on 8254 4644 if you have any further questions about rebates.

Depending on the type of rebate, applications may need to be approved by the CEO or Council.

The criteria for approving a rate rebate are focused on fairness, equity and community benefit.

Yes. Your property valuation may increase or decrease each year depending on changes to your property or as a result of other market influences.

Capital values can increase for many reasons. This can include:

• Building or completing a house on a vacant block of land
• Extending your property by adding rooms, carports or pergolas
• Landscaping improvements
• Amalgamating or sub-dividing property
• General increase in valuations as a result of the Valuer-General of South Australia's revaluation

Appeals against the valuation of a property must be made through the Valuer-General in the State Valuation Office within 60 days after the date of service of the Rates Notice. Appeals can be made online via www.valuergeneral.sa.gov.au

Below are the contact details:

No, valuations do not determine the rates income of a council. Property valuations are used to divide the rate revenue amount among individual ratepayers, as outlined in our Annual Business Plan.

Council reviews the rate in the dollar annually to make sure that it only raises rates to match the income required, which means that Council does not benefit from valuation increases.

Your property may have a higher capital value.

Properties with a higher capital value than the average will incur a greater percentage of the rates through the variable charge. Generally under State Legislation, the higher the value of the property, the higher the rates to be paid. For example, a person with a property valued at $150,000 will contribute less than someone with a property valued at $300,000 in the same council area.

You may object to the land use applied to your property within 60 days of notification.

The appeal must:

1. Be made in writing to Council, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer
2. Set out the basis for objection and details of the land use that should be applied.

Council will review the objection in conjunction with the Valuer-General and notify the ratepayer of its decision. If not satisfied, the ratepayer may appeal against the Council decision to the Land and Valuation Court.

There may be a number of reasons that you have not received a copy of your Rates Notice. This may include:

• You have changed your mailing address and Council is not aware of this change
• You have registered for digital rates and changed or incorrectly input your email address
• If you have a rental property, the notice may have been sent to your property managing agent
• If you made full payment of your annual rates total, you will not be sent any further rates notices throughout the financial year
• You have recently sold a property or purchased a property

Please contact us if you think you should have received a Rates Notice.

The rates data is collected approximately two weeks before the Rates Notices are posted so any payments made during this time will not show on the notice.

If the amount due remains unpaid after the due date it will be subject to fines raised in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1999, Sect 181(8).

A statutory fine of two per cent on the unpaid quarterly amount and a further interest penalty of the prescribed percentage on any further arrears monthly will apply.

If you experience ongoing financial difficulty, please phone us on 8256 0333 to make suitable arrangements for payment of overdue amounts.

This may have occurred for a number of reasons:

• The ownership may have changed after the Rates Notice data was collected. If the rates have not been paid the Notice should be returned to Council, otherwise you can disregard the notice.
• If you had received your Rates Notice through BPAY View you may have forgotten to cancel. Please contact your financial institution to cancel BPAY View for your sold property - you definitely don't want to inadvertently pay rates for a property you no longer own!

Yes. If you are not already registered, you can register by:

1. Visiting Playford Online Services at reportandpay.playford.sa.gov.au
2. Selecting 'Ratepayer Registration' and following the steps to set up your account

Remember to have your Rates Notice handy. Your Registration Name and User ID can be found on page 2 of your rates notice. If additional login details are required, please phone Customer Contact on 8256 0333.

You can also view a step by step video on our Playford Online Services web page.

First, sign in to your account and follow the steps below:

1. From the home page select 'Set up direct debit'
2. On the Rates Summary screen select your Ratepayer Name which is highlighted in green.
3. Scroll down and select 'Request direct debit' and follow the prompts. Be sure to include your account name correctly, making sure it represents the name of the account owner and not the type of account, eg, John and Joan Smith.

If you encounter any problems when setting up a direct debit, first watch this step by step video and if you are still unable to resolve your problem, please call the Rates Team on 8256 0333.

To have your rates notice delivered to your device or computer go to Digital Rates Request form and follow the steps.

Remember to have your Assessment Number handy. This can be found on the top right hand corner of your rates notice.

To view copies of rates notices online, you need to be registered for Playford Online Services and be the current ratepayer for the property.

STEP 1: View our step by step video on our Playford Online Services web page

STEP 2: Register to Playford Online Services

1. Go to reportandpay.playford.sa.gov.au
2. Select 'Ratepayer Registration' and follow the steps to set up your account. Remember to have your Rates Notice handy. Your Registration Name and Username ID can be found on page 2 of your rates notice. If additional login details are required, please phone Customer Contact on 8256 0333.

STEP 3: View Your Notices

To view your notices, you will first need to sign into Playford Online Services and follow the steps below:

1. From the home page select 'View Rates Notices'
2. On the Rates Summary screen select your Ratepayer Name highlighted in green.
3. Scroll down and select 'Rates Notices'
4. Select the rates notice icon to view your notice

If you have a Property Manager, your request for digital delivery of rates notices will override mail delivery to the Property Manager. We advise you to notify your Property Manager of this change.

You can only view properties if you are the current ratepayer. If you have sold a property, you will no longer be able to view rates notices for that property.

Please make sure you save any required rates notices before property settlement.

Yes. Property Managing Agents can request to receive rates notices by email by contacting the Customer Contact Team.

Phone 8256 0333 or email playford@playford.sa.gov.au with the required email address.

BPAY View sends rates and overdue notices straight to the same online bank that you use to pay them and provides notifications, reminders and secure online access, simply:

1. Log into your internet or mobile banking
2. Look for the BPAY View or View Bills section
3. Register to receive your City of Playford rates notice using the BPAY View registration number located below the BPAY symbol on your rates notice.

To find out more about BPAY View visit their website