9 January 2026
North Sydney Council is preparing to return to the state pricing regulator with a revised rates bid that would lift ordinary rates by about 53% and minimum rates by around 63% over three years, following last year’s failed attempt to impose increases of up to 96% over two years.
Councillors will consider lodging a new application with the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal at an extraordinary meeting on January 19, after council officers reworked the long-term financial plan and consultation approach that underpinned the rejected 2025 proposal.
Under the recommended option, total ordinary rates would rise by 23% in 2026–27, 14.58% in 2027–28 and 8.32% in 2028–29, with the increases permanently locked into the rate base. Over the same period, minimum residential and business rates would rise by 30%, then 15%, then 9%, taking the minimum rate to $1,216.79 by 2028–29 before reverting to annual increases in line with the rate peg from 2029–30. The cumulative increases are, evidently, higher due to compounding.
The new proposal follows IPART’s rejection in May 2025 of North Sydney Council’s earlier special rate variation, which would have lifted general residential and business rates by between 87% and 96% over two years and nearly doubled minimum rates over the same period. In that determination, IPART limited the council to the standard 4.0% rate peg for 2025–26.
IPART found the earlier application failed to clearly explain the purpose and need for such large increases, with consultation materials leaving residents confused about whether the rise was primarily intended to fund the North Sydney Olympic Pool redevelopment. The tribunal also criticised the council for not presenting a clear “rate-peg-only” baseline, failing to properly explore alternatives such as service reductions or higher debt, and overstating claimed productivity savings.
The regulator concluded the scale and speed of the proposed increases were not reasonable, citing cost-of-living pressures, inadequate assessment of impacts on business ratepayers and a financial hardship policy that required strengthening.
In the new report to councillors, chief executive officer Therese Cole said the revised approach directly addressed those concerns. Council has undertaken two phases of community engagement between August and December 2025, revised its hardship policy, developed a detailed productivity and improvement plan and reworked its financial modelling.
Council officers reported that more than 1,260 submissions and survey responses were received during the consultation process. The report said feedback showed strong support for maintaining services and infrastructure and mixed views on rate increases, with an independently conducted survey by Micromex Research cited as indicating comparatively stronger support for a special rate variation than seen in other council consultations. Those findings are presented through council’s own assessment and interpretation of the engagement outcomes.
The report said productivity and improvement initiatives since 2023 had reduced the scale of potential rate increases by an estimated 14.9% but were insufficient to close what the council characterised as a structural funding gap. Without additional revenue, infrastructure renewal funding over the next decade was projected to meet only 69% of minimum requirements, with the existing renewal backlog estimated at $157m.
Council officers again sought to separate the proposed rate rises from the North Sydney Olympic Pool redevelopment, stating that all pool costs would be funded from existing revenue regardless of whether the special variation was approved, and that special variation income would be directed primarily toward restoring the sustainability of services and infrastructure.
If endorsed, councillors will authorise a new application to IPART under section 508A of the Local Government Act 1993, alongside a separate application to reset minimum rates under section 548(3).
A public forum will be held at 6pm on January 19 at North Sydney Council chambers, ahead of a 7pm meeting of councillors.