About your rates

Everyday services. Local infrastructure. A growing city.

Your rates at work

Every household budget matters. Council understands that many residents are continuing to feel the pressure of rising living costs.

That's why we're committed to keeping rates increases at or below inflation and ensuring that every rates dollar works as hard as possible for our community.

For most owner-occupiers, this year’s increase is around $1 extra per week, about 15 cents a day. This increase helps deliver the essential services, facilities and infrastructure our growing city relies on every day.

From the roads you drive on, to weekly bin collections, local parks, libraries, sporting fields, stormwater systems and disaster response, your rates help keep Moreton Bay safe, connected and thriving.

Much of this work happens quietly in the background. You might not notice it every day, but you’d certainly notice if it wasn’t there.

Council also has a responsibility to spend your rates wisely. That’s why we’re committed to being transparent about where your money goes and how it’s invested back into our community.

What your rates pay for

Every rates dollar is invested back into Moreton Bay. It helps deliver services and infrastructure our community relies on every day, including:

• Roads, footpaths, bridges and streetscapes
• Stormwater drainage and flood mitigation
• Parks, playgrounds, gardens and nature reserves
• Sports fields, pools and leisure centres, community halls and libraries
• Healthy and Active programs
• Planning, building and plumbing regulation
• Animal management
• Food safety regulation and public health
• Waste services, waste reduction and education
• Environmental and coastal protection
• Economic development and local jobs
• Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery

Your rates at work in 2025-26

Your rates help deliver services that support more than half a million residents across Moreton Bay.

This year, your rates helped:

• Maintain more than 4,300 kilometres of roads including resurfacing, rehabilitation, and pothole repairs.
• Cared for more than 5,500 hectares of parks and open spaces.
• Collected around 184,000 tonnes of household waste and recycling.
• Supported more than 1.4 million visits to our libraries.
• Delivered more than 50,000 Healthy and Active program bookings
• Maintained more than 63 million square metres of community land.

These are some of the everyday services your rates helped make possible.

Why some costs are changing

Like households and businesses, councils are also experiencing rising costs for materials, construction, fuel, waste management and essential services.

As City of Moreton Bay continues to grow, Council must also invest in maintaining existing infrastructure while planning and building for the future.

Council continues to focus on delivering value for residents by carefully managing costs and investing responsibly in the services and infrastructure our community depends on.

Why you pay a waste levy as part of your rates

The Queensland Government Waste Levy applies across Queensland, and councils are required to collect it as part of rates.

The levy will increase to help fund landfill management, recycling programs, and waste reduction initiatives.

Council continues to invest in initiatives such as GO (green organics) bins, improved recycling and education programs. This helps to reduce landfill and support a cleaner, more sustainable Moreton Bay.

Find out more about the Queensland waste levy.

When you receive your rates notice

Rates notices are issued four times a year:

• July
• October
• January
• April

Payment is due 30 days from the date of issue.

Your rates accounts and statements

Your rates account includes all charges and payments linked to your property.

You can securely view your payment history free of charge through Online Services.

If you are unable to lodge your request online, you can request copies of previous rates notices or payment history(PDF, 456KB). A fee of 301501 applies.

For your privacy, this information is only available to property owners (or authorised representatives).

Paper rates notices and email delivery

A 301503 paper notice fee applies to each quarterly rates notice sent by post. This reflects the cost of printing and delivery.

You can avoid this fee by choosing one of the following:

Register to receive your rates by email

• Free, secure and convenient
• Register each property you own
• Registrations close at 12:00 PM on the last day of each quarter

Use BPAY view

• View your rates notice through your bank
• Register at least 2 business days before the end of the quarter

Ratepayers receiving a pensioner or self-funded retiree rebate are exempt from the paper notice fee for their principal place of residence.

Paying your rates

You can pay your rates:

• Online
• By phone
• In person at a customer service centre or Australia Post
• Through a payment plan.

Learn more about paying your rates.

Rates payment plans

If you need extra flexibility, Council offers payment plans that allow you to pay your rates in instalments.

While a payment plan is active:

• Reminder and final notices are paused
• Interest will continue to accrue

Find out more about rates payment plans.

Interest on overdue rates

Council charges 8% interest per annum on overdue rates per the Local Government Act 2009 and Local Government Regulation 2012. Interest compounds daily on outstanding balances.

Authorising someone to manage your rates

For your privacy, Council can only discuss rates with:

• The property owner, or
• An authorised third party

You can authorise someone by completing a rates authority form(PDF, 708KB). Identity checks apply to protect your privacy.

Change of ownership fee

A 301500 processing fee applies when a property transfers ownership. This fee appears on the new owner's first rates notice.

The fee does not apply in certain circumstances, including:

• legal name changes
• transfers between spouses (principal residence)
• court-directed transfers
• transfers to government agencies.