City of Fremantle
Coastal Charm
Rates make up the majority of the City’s revenue.
Rates help pay for more than 100 different community services and programs. These include the Fremantle Arts Centre, the library and toy library, Fremantle Leisure Centre, festivals and events, waste collection, environmental services, infrastructure maintenance, sporting and recreation facilities, community safety, customer service, street cleaning and so much more.
Costs to the City typically increase annually as a result of inflation and other economic factors. This year the City is anticipating and planning for higher-than-normal increases to the cost-of-service delivery as a result of global supply chain disruptions that have occurred over the past 6 months. To cover these increases, the City is required to increase rate revenue in order to remain financially sustainable and continue to deliver the hundreds of programs, initiatives and activities that help our residents and visitors live, work and play in Fremantle.
However, the City acknowledges that parts of the community have been and will continue to be impacted by current cost of living pressures being faced across the Western Australian economy, which is why the rate increase for 2026-27 has been contained to 5.5%.
No documents are currently available.
The City issues rates notices in August each year.
The City applies differential rates by taking into account the levels of services provided to different types of properties, the cost of providing services to certain types of properties, as well as the need to encourage certain types of activities in the city.
Our categories are:
If you feel that the valuation applied to your property is incorrect, you can lodge an objection with Landgate’s Valuer General’s Office within 60 days of the issue date of your rates notice.
The State Government introduced an Emergency Services Levy (ESL) in 2003/04 to fund the services provided by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia (DFES). Local Councils across the state are required to include the levy on their rates accounts and collect it on behalf of DFES. Enquiries regarding ESL may be directed to DFES by;
Rates are calculated by multiplying a property’s valuation by the rate in the dollar set by Council. The valuation is determined by Landgate’s Valuer General and is a Gross Rental Value (GRV).
Step 1 The City determines the amount of rate revenue needed to deliver the services, programs and activities we provide.
Step 2 We then work out how this cost should be spread across the City’s rateable properties.
Step 3 We then multiply the rate in the dollar by your property’s value to calculate your contribution.
Watch this useful video to see how rates are calculated.
