What it would cost you
Start with your rates notice. The council's exhibition page is plain about who this touches:
You would only be impacted if your current rates notice has a Stormwater Charge on it.
Today that charge is a flat $25 a year for a home; business charges are set by land area. Under
the proposal it would go, replaced by a stormwater special rate on urban properties that have
access to, benefit from, or contribute to Council’s stormwater network
.
Average residential
About $82 more
a year, in the council's release; $82.02 on its exhibition page.
Average business
$68.85 less
a year, on the exhibition page; the release says $68.
Rural residential and farmland
Not charged
They pay no stormwater charge now and would not pay the new rate.
Averages are the council's estimates, from its 30 September 2026 release and its exhibition page, both read 8 October 2026.
The new rate would be worked out from your land value, the unimproved value on your rates
notice. The council multiplies it by a rate in the dollar and compares the result with a minimum;
you pay whichever is higher. The proposal would be introduced over four years, starting with a
minimum annual charge of $85 and increasing to $100 by the fourth year.
The council's own
preference was simpler: Council would prefer a set charge of $85 but the Local Government Act
1993 does not allow it.
The exhibition page has a calculator. Behind its slider are two settings: a minimum of $85 and a rate of 0.000320881 in the dollar of land value. On those settings a property pays the $85 minimum up to a land value of about $264,900, and more above it: about $128 a year at $400,000, $193 at $600,000 and $321 at $1 million (our arithmetic from the calculator's settings).
Why the council says it needs the money
The $25 charge has not moved in twenty years. The fact sheet says it has been capped at $25
per residential property since it was introduced in 2006
, and the cap is set by state
regulation, not by the council. Across the shire it raises about $209,000 a year.
Raised by the charge
About $209,000
a year, at $25 a home since 2006.
Topped up from general revenue
About $1 million
a year, the review's estimate of the operating subsidy.
Network not yet inspected by camera
69 per cent
of 82.5 km of drains, 2,750 pits and 695 headwalls, with a replacement value of $78 million.
From the council's Stormwater Drainage Service Review 2026 (30 July 2026)
and its fact sheet. The review's word for the inspection gap is some 69%
.
The council's own review, done in house and received by councillors in August, is blunt about the result. It
found the service remains predominantly reactive
, and that the stormwater function needs an
operational subsidy from general revenue of approximately $1 million per annum
. It lists the
locations with the most calls: more than 2,000 customer requests from 2018 to early 2026,
led by Bridge Street, Coraki (41); Baraang Drive, Broadwater (32); and Colches Street, Casino (32).
The network serves population centres including Casino, Evans Head, Broadwater, Riley’s Hill,
Woodburn, Coraki and Rappville. It puts the cost of renewing assets in condition 4 and 5 at about $5.36 million and the realistic
path forward at about $1.3 million a year of additional investment.
The release gives one example of what a job costs: the $2 million Illawong Lane drainage
project at Evans Head, for which the council had to borrow $1.6m
. The council also
allocated an extra $500,000 a year of general revenue to stormwater in 2025-26 and 2026-27, which the release says the review found was not
a sustainable long-term funding solution
.
We can’t wait any longer for the NSW Government to increase the stormwater management annual charge above $25
What changed between September and the consultation
The options came to councillors on 15 September, in a staff report with two of them:
a special rate on urban properties, or a rise in ordinary rates of 4 per cent above the rate peg that would have reached
rural residential and farmland too, at an estimated $48.99 and $88.51 a year more for those
averages. Staff recommended consulting on the two options outlined in this report
. The
council, on a motion moved by the Mayor, Cr Robert Mustow, resolved to start consultation
including consultation on Option 1, as outlined within the report
: the special rate. The
exhibition page sets out only that option.
Between that report and the consultation, the numbers moved. The report's figures were
indicative, and it said Detailed financial modelling will be completed to inform the
consultation process
. The consultation version raises less money and asks less of the average home; for the
average business it is very different.
| September report | Consultation | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate in the dollar | 0.000382806 | 0.000320881 |
| $85 minimum applies up to | $223,000 | about $264,900 |
| Average residential, change a year | $89.21 more | $82.02 more |
| Average business, change a year | $433.96 less | $68.85 less |
| Raised in the first year | $769,183 | $708,208 |
| A year by the fourth year | around $916,000 | $843,231 |
September report: item 18.1 of the 15 September 2026 ordinary meeting agenda, its Option 1 scenario. Consultation: the exhibition page's calculator, the page's averages and the 30 September release's revenue figures. The about $264,900 threshold is our arithmetic ($85 divided by the calculator's rate); the $223,000 is the report's own. The release rounds the residential figure to $82.
The business line is the one to notice. In the September report the average business would pay an estimated $433.96
a year less than it does now; at consultation it is $68.85 less, a gap of $365.11 (our
arithmetic). The September report says an average business charge has been utilised
because current
business charges vary by area, and it called its figures indicative. As at 8 October 2026 neither
the release, the fact sheet nor the exhibition page explains the change, or says how many
residential and business properties the averages cover.
Our read
This is opinion, built on the figures above. The council has made its case on its own numbers.
A charge frozen at $25 since 2006 raises about $209,000 against roughly $1 million a year of
subsidy, and the cap belongs to the state, not the council. A special rate variation is, in the words councillors resolved, the only available pathway
to replace the charge, and charging the properties the drains
actually serve, rather than farmland, is a defensible way to share it.
It is also the smaller fix. The September report said this option would not reach the $1.3
million annual funding level identified in Option 3 of the Stormwater Service Drainage Review as
quickly as the ordinary rates SRV option
. By the fourth year the consultation figure is about
$843,000 a year raised by the rate, against the review's estimate that a realistic path needs about $1.3 million a year of
additional investment. Residents should read it as a start, which is how the council's page
frames it.
And the council should show its working before 4 November. The September paper put the average business saving at more than $400; the consultation puts it under $70. The new modelling may well be right, but a ratepayer deciding whether to make a submission deserves to see it: the average land values, the number of properties in each category, and what moved. The calculator is the most useful thing on the page. Find your land value on your rates notice and use it.
What happens next
- 15 September 2026 Council resolves to consult on the special rate and to get a further report before deciding whether to tell IPART it intends to apply.
- 30 September 2026 The council's release announces the consultation.
- 4 November 2026 Feedback closes. Online, by email to council@richmondvalley.nsw.gov.au, by post to Locked Bag 10 Casino NSW 2470, or by hand at the Casino and Evans Head customer service centres.
- November 2026 Feedback reported to the council meeting, which decides whether to notify IPART; the September report says IPART must be notified that month.
- February 2027 Applications due to IPART, which then publishes them and consults, in the September report's timeline.
- June 2027 IPART decision, in the same timeline. The page
says
IPART may approve, partially approve or refuse an application.
We will report what councillors decide at the November meeting.
How we sourced this
The proposal, the averages, the minimum and its rise to $100, the closing date and the
submission routes are from Richmond Valley Council's exhibition page for the Proposed
Stormwater Special Rate Variation (last modified 1 October 2026) and its 30 September 2026
release, both read 8 October 2026. The calculator settings (a rate of 0.000320881 and an $85
minimum, over land values from $0 to $2.9 million) are attributes of the calculator in that
page's own HTML; the charges at $400,000, $600,000 and $1 million and the $264,900 threshold are
our arithmetic from them. The exhibition page gives the residential figure as an estimated
$82.02 a year
without the word "more"; we read it with the release, which says $82 more,
and with the $85 minimum, which rules out $82.02 being the whole charge. The September figures,
the two options and the IPART timeline are from item 18.1 of the 15 September 2026 agenda; the
timeline is the council's account of IPART's process, and we have not read IPART's own guidance
for 2027-28. The decision is resolution 150926/11 in the minutes of that meeting. The network
figures, the subsidy, the inspection gap, the request counts and the backlog are from the
council's Stormwater Drainage Service Review 2026, version 1 of 30 July 2026. Our arithmetic:
the threshold, the charges by land value, the $365.11 business gap and the chart. We have not
contacted Richmond Valley Council.
Sources
The working. AI read the documents and drafted this story, under rules people set and answer for, working from the primary sources below. How we work.
- Richmond Valley Council, Proposed Stormwater Special Rate Variation (exhibition page, read 8 October 2026): who would pay, the $85 to $100 minimum, the averages, the calculator, the FAQ and the 4 November closing date.
- Richmond Valley Council, Community to have say on future stormwater funding (media release, published 30 September 2026, read 8 October 2026): the $82 and $68 averages, the $708,208 and $843,231 revenue figures, Illawong Lane, and the General Manager's comments.
- Richmond Valley Council, Proposed Special Rate Variation fact sheet (PDF, 2 pages, September 2026, read 8 October 2026): the network figures, the $25 cap since 2006 and the council's preference for a set charge.
- Richmond Valley Council, Ordinary Council Meeting agenda, 15 September 2026 (PDF, read 8 October 2026), item 18.1 Stormwater Drainage, Additional Revenue Options: the two options, the indicative figures and the IPART timeline.
- Richmond Valley Council, Ordinary Council Meeting minutes, 15 September 2026 (PDF, 14 pages, read 8 October 2026): resolution 150926/11.
- Richmond Valley Council, Stormwater Drainage Service Review 2026 (PDF, 63 pages, version 1, 30 July 2026, read 8 October 2026): the network, the subsidy, inspection coverage, customer requests and the backlog.
Pay the stormwater charge, or know why the business figure moved? Tell us and we will check it against the documents and log the outcome.