Rate Payments
How to pay
Council has partnered with Payble to provide easy and secure online payments, with flexible repayment options and the option to receive SMS reminders before important due dates. Payble is an Australian company that helps local governments improve customer payment experiences. Payble is safe and secure with PCI-DSS, ISO27001 and SOC2 certifications.
Council offers the following options for ratepayers to pay their rate accounts:
- Pay online
Pay your rates online with manual or automatic payments for all major bank accounts, credit and debit cards.
- Pay by direct debit
Manage your budget by requesting rate payments be automatically debited from your nominated account on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly schedule.
- Pay by BPAY
BPAY is a national electronic bill payment service. Contact your participating bank, credit union or building society or use online banking to pay directly from your nominated account. When prompted, simply enter the Biller Code and Customer Reference Number as shown at the bottom of your rate notice, the amount you wish to pay and the account from which the payment will be made.
- Pay through the mail
If sending payment through the mail, you must mail the bank deposit slip (detach from the bottom of your Council rate notice) together with your cheque (made payable to Greater Shepparton City Council and crossed 'Not Negotiable') to the following address:
Do not pin or staple your cheque to the Bank Deposit Slip. Retain the top portion of your rate notice for your records. Receipts will not be issued for payments by mail. Postal delays will not be accepted as an excuse for late payment.
- Pay at the Council Office (90 Welsford Street, Shepparton)
You can make payments over the counter by presenting your intact rate notice between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday. We accept:
- Cash
- Cheque (made payable to Greater Shepparton City Council)
- EFTPOS
- Pay in person at any post office
Take your rate notice to any Australia POSTshop, Business Centre, Post Office or Licensed Post Office to make payments in person. POSTbillpay can process cash and cheque payments and EFTPOS transactions for credit car (MasterCard or Visa) and debit cards.
- Pay by POSTbillpay (Phone 13 18 16)
For the cost of a local call*, POSTbillpay by phone allows ratepayers to pay their rate account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The step-by-step process is quick and easy to use. You will be given a receipt number as immediate confirmation of your transaction.
* Calls from mobile phones will be charged at mobile phone rates.
- Pay by Centrepay
Use Centrepay to make regular deductions from your Centrelink payment. Centrepay is a voluntary and easy payment option available to Centrelink customers.
- Pay by phone
You can pay your rates over the phone with a MasterCard or Visa by calling 1300 181 761.
Pay by instalments
Pay by four instalments
By default, four instalments will be due and payable by the following dates each year:
- Instalment 1: due on or before 30 September
- Instalment 2: due on or before 30 November
- Instalment 3: due on or before 28 February
- Instalment 4: due on or before 31 May
Reminder notices will be sent prior to each instalment due date. Any instalment payment received after the due date will be charged penalty interest at the rate of 10% per annum (as set by the State Government) from the due date until the overdue instalment is paid in full.
Pay by weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalments
Council has partnered with Payble, designed to help you have more options to pay council rates whilst making the experience easier than ever! Payble supports manual or automatic payments for all major bank accounts, credit and debit cards, with the flexibility of weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalments, and SMS reminders before important due dates.
Visit Payble to pay instalments via credit/debit card or direct debit
Pay by ten instalments
Payments can be deducted from your account on the last Friday of each month, commencing in September and ending in June of each rating period.
To apply to pay by ten monthly instalments, complete and return the Direct Debit Request Form below at least two business days prior to the September direct debit payment. Direct debit is the only payment method available for this instalment option.
Payments plans and deferrals
On application, a person may enter into a suitable payment plan or deferral with Council for the payment of a rate and/or charge.
Council will assist a ratepayer to determine the conditions of a suitable payment plan or deferment including:
- the duration;
- the frequency;
- the amount of each instalment; and/or
- any other terms.
Council may cancel a payment plan or deferment at anytime if the terms of the plan are not complied with. Should a payment plan or deferment be cancelled, any amounts owing will become due and payable.
Payment difficulties
If you are having difficulties paying your rates, please contact the Council immediately on 03 5832 9700 to discuss alternative arrangements available under Council’s Financial Hardship Policy (available for download below), or complete a Payment Plan Form. You can lodge this form online, or download a printable PDF of the form below. This method may include options such as a payment plan serviced by Direct Debit or Centrepay.
Complete the Rates Payment Plan Form online
You can also download a hard-copy version of the form from the link below.
Approval may be granted as long as an acceptable amount is paid either on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.
All enquiries are treated confidentially, and early communication from you may help prevent the commencement of costly legal action for the recovery of outstanding rates.
Receive your notices electronically
Free yourself from paper and do the environment a favour at the same time, by signing up to receive your Council notices electronically via eNotices or BPAY View. Not only does this allow you to receive your notice quicker than via the post, once you have signed up you can view previous notices as far back as the 2014/2015 year.
- To register with eNotices, complete the registration form on the eNotices website.
- To register, enter your email address and the eNotices reference number shown on your rates notice.
- Rates notices will be delivered via email as a PDF document, and you are able to log into the eNotices website to view available previous notices.
- For BPAY View, simply go to your online banking and follow the instructions to sign up for BPAY View. Please have your rate notice handy, as you will need this for your customer number and other details.
Please note: eNotices may be blocked or treated as Spam and therefore not appear in your inbox. If you have trouble receiving emails, please check your spam/junk folder and whitelist any emails to prevent further interruptions.
Change of mailing address and/or ratepayer
The Local Government Act 1989 requires property owners and ratepayers to advise of any changes in ownership or mailing address. Incorrect addresses and ownership records may cause unnecessary delays in the delivery of your rate notices. This may result in interest and costly legal fees on your rates account.
You must notify the Council in writing if you:
- Have changed your mailing and/or residential address;
- Have changed your name (a copy of your driver's licence or relevant certificate is required);
- Wish to nominate your tenant as the ratepayer (ie. as the recipient of the rate notice);
- Wish to remove a former tenant as the ratepayer.
To notify the Council of a change in mailing address and/or ratepayer, please complete and return the Change of Address/Name Form (below). This form must be signed by the property owner, and the property owner's residential address is required for voting purposes.
Change of property ownership
The Local Government Act 1989 requires property owners and ratepayers to advise of any changes in ownership or mailing address. Incorrect addresses and ownership records may cause unnecessary delays in the delivery of your rate notices. This may result in interest and costly legal fees on your rates account.
The Council must receive written notification of changes of ownership following the sale of a property. The relevant signed ‘Notice of Acquisition’ must be completed and forwarded to the Council no later than one month after the disposal or acquisition of the property.
Liability for rates levied on a property, including arrears, become the responsibility of the new owners unless arrangements are made for payment at settlement.
Copies of rate notices
A copy of your rate notice from the current rating period is available and will be supplied on request, but may incur a charge.
Copies of rate notices for the seven rating years preceding the current rating year are available at a cost per notice per year. Please refer to Council’s Schedule of Fees and Charges.
Please contact Council if you would like to request a copy of your rate notice.
Allocation of monies
All rate payments received will be allocated in the following order:
- Legal Costs owing (if any), then
- Interest owing (if any), then
- Arrears owing (if any), then
- Current rates/charges/levies owing.
Payment of the current balance owing is divided proportionally between Council rates and charges and the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund.