Rates FAQ's

Rates can be paid by the following means:

BPAY:
Payment may be made by phone or internet through your bank using BPAY. Your Biller Code and Reference Number are shown on the front of your rates notice. Please allow 2 business days for the BPAY payment to be processed.
Please note Debtor and Dog Registration payments are not to be made by BPAY

Phone:
Using your Credit Card - Visa only, phone our office on (08) 8578 1004 during normal office hours 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday and payment can be processed over the phone.

In Person:
Payment may be made in person at the Council Office, 11 Railway Terrace, Karoonda during normal office hours 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday. Cash Cheque or EFTPOS may be used.

Direct Credit:
Payments can be made directly into Council's account using the below bank account details. Please use your assessment number as the reference number so Council can track your payment.

Bank SA
BSB: 105-161
Account Number: 723038140
Account Name: District Council of Karoonda East Murray

Mail:
Make cheques payable to "District Council of Karoonda East Murray" and mark "Not Negotiable". Mail payments with bottom section of notice to: District Council of Karoonda East Murray, PO Box 58, Karoonda SA 530. To avoid fines payments via mail must reach the Council office on or before the due date.

Rates will be overdue if they have not been paid by “the last day for payment” as shown on the front of your rate notice.  After this date additional charges, as per the Local Government Act 1999, will apply.

• A fine of 2% of the amount due will be immediately added to the amount due; and


• At the end of each month thereafter, interest, at rate prescribed in the Local Government Act 1999, will be added on any balance (including interest) not then paid.

The State Government is no longer funding the concession on council rates. Instead, the State Government has introduced a ‘Cost of Living Concession’ (CLC) payment which will be paid directly to those eligible.

For questions regarding the CLC and to check eligibility please contact the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion Concessions Hotline directly on 1800 307 758 or go to www.sa.gov.au/concessions for further information.

Concessions for Council Community Wastewater Management Schemes (CWMS) or council provided water remains unchanged but is now paid directly to the recipient and is no longer provided via council rates notices.

If you have (or are likely to have) difficulty meeting the payment dates for your rates, please contact Council on (08) 8578 1004 before the rates fall into arrears to discuss options that may be able to assist you. Depending on your circumstance, there are short term (i.e. payment plans) and longer term (i.e. postponement of rates) options that may be available to you. These enquiries are treated confidentially.

For more information please visit our Financial Hardship page.

Ratepayers who hold a State Seniors Card (or who are eligible and have applied for one) can apply to Council to postpone payment of rates on their principal place of residence.

Postponed rates remain as a charge on the land and are not required to be repaid until the property is sold or disposed of. For further information please phone Council on (08) 8578 1004 or email council@dckem.sa.gov.au

Related pages: Financial Hardship

Certain persons and/or organisations may be eligible for a rebate including certain community groups, health and education organisations. Phone Council on (08) 8578 1004 or email council@dckem.sa.gov.au for further information.

The Regional Landscape (RL) levy is a State tax. Councils are required under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 to collect the levy on all rateable properties on behalf of the State Government. The levy is not retained by council. The levy helps to fund the operations of regional landscape boards who have responsibility for the management of the State’s natural resources. These responsibilities include regional landscape planning, water allocation planning, community capacity building, education, and compliance activities.

For further information regarding this levy, or the work the levy supports, please visit the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board at www.landscape.sa.gov.au or phone on (08) 8532 9100.

Please advise in writing or by email immediately if your property ownership and/or address details have changed.  For your convenience, a tear off slip is available on the back of your rate notice.

Rates Officer
The District Council of Karoonda East Murray
PO Box 58
Karoonda SA 5307

council@dckem.sa.gov.au

Alternatively, you can use our online form to advise a change of postal address.

You may object to the valuation to the Valuer General as referred to in your rates notice by writing, served personally, by post or via email, within 60 days from the date of the first rates notice.

Please note:

• If you have previously received a notice or notices under the Local Government Act 1999 referring to the valuation and informing you of a 60 day objection period, the objection period is 60 days after the service of the first such notice.
• Also, you may not object to the valuation if the Valuer General has already considered an objection by you to that valuation.
• The Valuer-General may extend the 60-day objection period where it be shown there is reasonable cause to do so by a person entitled to make an objection to a valuation.
• A written objection to valuation must set out the full and detailed grounds for objection, including any supporting information.
• Rates are still due and payable by the due date even if an objection has been lodged.
•  

Objections can be submitted to the Office of the Valuer-General via:

Email: OVGObjections@sa.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 1354, Adelaide SA 5001
Online: www.valuergeneral.sa.gov.au
In Person: Land Services SA, Level 9, 101 Grenfell Street, Adelaide

For further information or a hard copy objection pack (including a reply-paid envelope) please call 1300 653 346.

Click here to read the Property Valuations Objecting to a Valuation fact sheet from the Office of the Valuer-General.

Persons on the State House of Assembly Electoral Roll are automatically included in the Council Voters Roll and entitled to vote in Council elections.

Others who are ratepayers may also be entitled to be enrolled on the Council Voters Roll and will need to apply for enrolment. If you have any queries, please contact Council via phone on (08) 8578 1004, or email council@dckem.sa.gov.au