Rates are based on your property’s Assessed Annual Value (AAV) — an estimate of its yearly rental value, set by the Office of the Valuer-General. AAV must be at least 4% of the property’s capital value.
Your AAV amount is then multiplied by the relevant cent in the dollar rate. Refer 2025/26 Rates and Charges below.
The total amount Council needs to collect through rates is based on the cost of providing services, maintaining infrastructure, and facilities.
Your rates include:
- General Rate (based on AAV)
- General Charge (fixed charge)
- Waste Management Charge (fixed charge)
- Waste Levy Offset Service Charge (fixed charge)
- State Fire Service Levy (based on AAV)
Property values (including land, capital, and AAV) are reviewed and adjusted every two years using indexation factors.
For more details on how property values are adjusted, visit Valuation Adjustment Factors.
Revaluation of Municipality
The Office of the Valuer-General completed a full revaluation of all properties in the City of Launceston, based on values as of 1 July 2023. These new values have been used to calculate rates from 1 July 2024.
Revaluations happen every six years, with value updates (indexing) every two years in between.
Important:
An increase in your property’s value does not mean your rates will automatically go up. What matters is how your property’s value has changed compared to others. The Council adjusts the “Cents in AAV” rate to make sure overall rate revenue doesn’t increase just because property values have.
If you want to query your valuation, please contact the Office of the Valuer-General:
Residential Rate Cap (Transitional Arrangements)
To support residents during the transition to new property values, Council introduced a rate cap following the municipal revaluation.
If a residential property's general rate (based on the AAV) was set to increase significantly, Council limited the increase to a maximum of 20% per year.
This approach has helped ensure a fair and gradual adjustment, while maintaining the principle that properties with the same value and use category paid the same rate.
State Government Waste Levy (Offset)
A $22.40 service charge applies in 2025/26 to properties that receive waste management services.
This charge helps Council recover costs from a State Government Waste Levy, introduced in July 2022 to reduce landfill use.
Money collected through the levy is reinvested by the State Government into improving recycling, composting, and resource recovery across Tasmania.
For more information, visit https://nre.tas.gov.au/environment/waste-and-resource-recovery/landfill-levy
State Fire Service Rate
This rate is collected by Council on behalf of the State Government to help fund the State Fire Commission.
It’s based on the fire district your property falls under, which depends on the local fire brigade that would respond in case of a fire.
Council collects this levy and passes it on to the State Government to support fire services across Tasmania.