News · Council money · Newcastle
Newcastle’s new $458 million budget started this week. Here is what it changes at your place
The 2026/27 budget took effect on 1 July. Pool entry stays at $2 and extends to concession card holders at Lambton, community groups keep their $625 Crown land rent cap, and the penalty rate on overdue rates drops a full point to 9.5 per cent.
City of Newcastle councillors voted unanimously on 16 June to adopt a $458 million budget for 2026/27, the council’s largest, with more than $128 million of it going to maintaining and delivering infrastructure. The council received a record 100 public submissions during the budget’s exhibition, and its Acting Chief Financial Officer, Scott Moore, said the recurring themes were cost-of-living pressure, the impact of fees on community groups, and equitable spending.
The household items
- Pools. The $2 entry fee continues at the inland pools at Beresfield, Wallsend, Mayfield and Stockton, and is newly extended to all concession card holders at Lambton Park War Memorial Swim Centre. Council will work out how to absorb the cost of the subsidy at its September quarterly budget review.
- Community groups. Rent for groups on Crown land, including surf life saving clubs, Scouts, Girl Guides, Men’s Sheds and sporting clubs, stays capped at $625 a year.
- Charities. Fee reductions continue at Summerhill Waste Management Centre for charitable organisations, and rates assistance is funded for people in financial hardship.
Your rates notice
At the same 16 June meeting, council formally made the rates and charges for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (items 8.5 and 8.6 of the meeting’s business papers). Two decisions matter most to a household:
- Overdue rates get cheaper to carry. Interest on unpaid rates is set at 9.5 per cent a year, down from 10.5 per cent, the maximum the NSW Government allows. Council expects that charge to bring in about $525,000 across the year. Anyone on a hardship payment plan has the interest waived entirely.
- The rate in the dollar is on the record. The schedule sets a base amount plus a cents-in-the-dollar rate on land value for every category, down to individual shopping precincts such as Kotara, Wallsend, The Junction and Mayfield.
What the ordinary rates raise in 2026/27
Sample of the adopted schedule, City of Newcastle, items 8.5 and 8.6, 16 June 2026.
| Category | Base amount | Plus, per $ of land value | Forecast yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential (ordinary rate) | $976.76 | 0.188482c | $134,588,208 |
| Business (ordinary rate) | $1,355.60 | 1.1197c | $56,305,463 |
Why the surplus is deliberately thin
The budget forecasts an operating surplus of just $450,000. CEO Jeremy Bath argued the buffer is the point, not the size:
“Maintaining an annual surplus in the past has allowed us to react when the community has needed us in situations like Wickham wool sheds fire, the Lambton landslip, and the recent Mayfield fire, without sending us into the red.”
Jeremy Bath, CEO, City of Newcastle, in the council’s budget announcement
The announcement also notes Newcastle was ranked ninth in the state for financial sustainability last year, and the council forecasts it will again meet all six financial sustainability metrics set by the Office of Local Government.
How much can rates rise in total? That is set by the state’s pricing regulator, not by council, and Newcastle’s cap this year is the highest in the Hunter. We break the mechanics down in a separate story.
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