Pensioner rebates
The existing pensioner rebate is up to $87.50 for water services and $87.50 for sewer services as allowed by the NSW Government.
Under the Local Government Act this rebate can only be applied against 50% of a charge. As the Water Availability Charge is lower than $175.00 (e.g $87.50 x 2), each eligible pensioner will not receive the full available rebate unless the balance is applied against each quarterly water usage charge.
Council has therefore applied the unused balance of the rebate to water usage charges to enable eligible pensioners to maximise the use of this scheme. Please note that Council does not receive the full amount of $87.50 from the NSW Government and subsidises 45% of the rebate provided to eligible pensioners.
This is how the pensioner rebate works for water:
You will only pay half of the quarterly $15.25 Water Availability Charge ($61.00 per annum) – a rebate of $7.62 ($30.50 per annum), which is shown on each quarterly Water Account.
In addition you will receive the balance remaining from the $87.50 off your water usage charge each quarter depending on the amount of water consumed. A maximum of $14.25 if the usage charge on each Water Account is greater than $28.50.
This is how the pensioner rebate works for sewer charges:
Each quarterly Water Account will have $139.25 charged for sewer availability ($557 per anum). As this charge is greater than $175.00 (e.g. $87.50 x 2) the full pensioner rebate of $87.50 can be applied (as a quarterly amount of $21.88) against each Water Account.
Please note that some eligible pensioners are not entitled to a 100% rebate. In these cases the percentage entitlement is applied against the calculations above. See how the pensioner rebate looks on an account with a 100% entitlement. Because of rounding and the timing of water usage charges being issued between financial years, the balance available to be used from the $87.50 (if this has not been fully applied) will be applied in the next financial year.