Rates Frequently Asked Questions

Download: Mornington Peninsula Shire Rates Brochure 2025.pdf(PDF, 539KB) 

Our 2025-26 rates brochure details how Council rates are calculated and how your rates support our community.

Rates are calculated using a formula that takes into account the cost of providing almost 100 council services for the local community to help fund our day-to-day operations and the services  such as maintaining parks, running community facilities and events, and more.

Council rates are not calculated solely on the basis of property valuation and rates do not automatically increase as property value increases. The value of the property is only used to calculate the percentage of the budget that residents need to pay to ensure that the Shire can continue to provide services.

Rates are apportioned across all ratepayers using the Capital Improved Value (CIV) for each property, to determine the share of Overall Rates payable against each rateable property (applied via a unit rate per Dollar ($) of valuation).

Your property's rates and charges may have increased or decreased by a different percentage for reasons such as:

• the valuation of your property relative to the valuation of other properties in the shire
• the inclusion of other rates and charges such as waste and recycling, and the Fire Services Property Levy.

You can learn more at How are My Rates Calculated?

The Waste Service Charge (WSC) is reviewed as part of Council's Annual Budget. The Waste Service Charge for 2025/2026 will increase by $27 to $433. This is mainly due to an increase in cost for landfill levy.

This charge is intended to recoup the full cost of waste services for the community which includes:

• all waste collections (including public waste clearing from parks, reserves and foreshores)
• disposals
• street sweeping
• footpath sweeping
• street and drain litter collections (across the municipality)
• future works landfill areas (rehabilitation works).

The charge is therefore a recovery of all waste costs, not just bin collection and street cleaning immediately adjacent to your property.

Waste services, whether in the street or home, benefit everyone in the community. As such the waste service levy is placed against all rateable properties on the Peninsula.

Council rates are a property-based Tax. For 2025/26 the FGRS cap has been set at 3.00% as set by the Minister. They are apportioned across all ratepayers using the Capital Improved Value (CIV) for each property, to determine the share of Overall Rates payable against each rateable property (applied via a unit rate per Dollar ($) of valuation).

Learn more at How are my Rates Calculated.

On your rates notice you’ll observe both a Site Value (SV) amount in dollars ($), and a Capital Improved Value (CIV) amount in dollars ($).

The CIV amount is the TOTAL valuation of the dwelling and land (i.e., we do not add both figures together to calculate the overall valuation).

The property valuation is a relative measure. This means all properties, except that where significant capital improvement has been undertaken in the last 12 months (i.e., new housing development), will be apportioned a similar rateable charge to each other, as has occurred in previous years.

From 1 July 2025, the Fire Services Property Levy (FSPL) will be replaced by the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF).

It will help support a broader range of emergency services and for the first time include VICSES, Triple Zero Victoria, the State Control Centre, Forest Fire Management Victoria, and Emergency Recovery Victoria, as well as the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV).

Local Councils collect the Levy on behalf of the State Government. There is a flat $136 charge for residential properties and $275 for other properties, as well as a charge based on the CIV for all property types.

For more information call the ESVF support line 1300 819 033 or visit State Revenue Office | Emergency services and volunteers fund.

This Levy is based on the Australian Valuation Property Classification Codes (AVPCC) attributable to your property, and a set unit formula.

The AVPCC is a unique identifier defined by the state government, representing how you use your land, in conjunction with the overall valuation or CIV, and determines the actual amount payable per property. 

Learn more about different methods for paying your rates on our Rate payments and Rates Notices page.

• Waste vouchers are only issued on the Annual Rates & Valuation notice, sent every year mid-August to the owner of the property at the time.
• You will find a QR code to access 4 vouchers per property. One voucher = 0.5 cubic metre of hard waste OR 1 cubic metre of green waste taken to the Waste Depot. If you order hard waste collection, then One voucher = 0.5 cubic metre for both hard and green waste
• Waste Vouchers are not issued on the instalment rate notices.
• Waste vouchers expire 30 September, for example vouchers received in August for the current financial year will expire on 30 September 2026.
• If you receive your rate notices electronically? No worries! Our Resource and Recovery Centre gatekeepers can scan the QR code from your smart phone or device, or you can print them off and use the paper copy (if you are booking a hard rubbish collection, you will need to print them).
• Cannot find your Annual Rates Notice with the vouchers? Visit our page to apply for a reprint to be emailed or posted out.
• Once your four waste vouchers have been used, any further copies become void (included on your Annual Rates & Valuation Notice).
• Please call 5950 1020 and ask for our Waste Services Team if you are unsure whether your vouchers have been used.