Love it or loathe it? Colourful new mural revealed in Mosman’s Vista Street car park.North Sydney Council wants to raise your rates by 53%. Here’s what you need to know.
Following its failed bid to raise rates by 87.05%, North Sydney Council now wants to hike them by 53% over three years.
By ANNA USHER
North Sydney Council has formally asked the state’s rates regulator, IPART, to approve a staggered Special Rate Variation (SRV) that would lift council’s general income by 53% over three years.
For locals who are still scarred by last year’s failed 87.05% rate rise bid – this is the next chapter of the same debate: how North Sydney pays for the basics, and what’s a reasonable hit for home and business owners.
Council’s submission to IPART says the purpose of the Special Rates variation is to “restore financial sustainability”.
Under the revised plan now with IPART, rates would rise in three steps (inclusive of the rate peg):
- 23% from 2026–27
- 14.58% from 2027–28
- 8.32% from 2028–29
Council’s submission says the purpose of the SRV is to “restore financial sustainability by addressing structural under-funding of infrastructure renewal and preventing further growth in the infrastructure backlog “ – while maintaining existing service levels.
It estimates the increase would raise about $62 million over the first three years and $278 million over ten years.
North Sydney Council says it has an infrastructure backlog of $157 million as at 30 June 2025.
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The council’s argument: “infrastructure backlog”
In the documents published as part of the SRV process, council reports an infrastructure backlog of $157 million as at 30 June 2025, largely linked to buildings and stormwater assets.
Without intervention, the backlog is forecast to rise 23.07%, compared with the Office of Local Government benchmark of 2%.
Council says around $186m over ten years would be directed to infrastructure renewal, including restoring annual renewal funding to 100% of depreciation and allocating up to $86.9m towards reducing the backlog.
North Sydney rate payers can lodge submissions via IPART until 9 March 2026.
Why this is back on the table?
North Sydney’s earlier SRV bid – a cumulative 87.05% increase over two years – was rejected by IPART in a decision dated 16 May 2025.
IPART’s reasons included findings that council had not clearly explained the purpose and need for the increase in its planning and consultation documents, had not adequately canvassed alternatives (including a clear “rate peg only” baseline), and that the scale and speed of the increase was not reasonable for ratepayers.
Have your say
IPART has opened public consultation and is inviting feedback via a short online survey or written submissions.
Ratepayers can lodge submissions HERE via IPART until 9 March 2026, with the tribunal to rule on whether the increases can begin from July 2026.
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