community services · Toowoomba Regional Council
Toowoomba pensioners keep $70 annual rebate on water infrastructure charge
Eligible pensioners with access to a Toowoomba Regional Council water supply will keep a $70 annual rebate on the water infrastructure charge.
Eligible pensioners in the Toowoomba Region will keep a $70-a-year rebate on the water infrastructure charge in 2026/27.
To qualify, ratepayers must be pensioners, eligible for the State Government pensioner rate subsidy and have access to any Toowoomba Regional Council water supply. Council also kept a separate $120 annual rebate on the general rate for eligible pensioners.
The pensioner concession was part of a wider 2026/27 rating package that lifted the total budgeted change in rates and utility charges to 7.34% compared with 2025/26, before discounts and rebates are counted.
Council also maintained a 5% discount on differential general rates, sewerage utility charges and water infrastructure charges for eligible categories if bills are paid within 33 days and other conditions are met.
Other charges will rise across the region in 2026/27. Council levied differential general rates, sewerage utility charges, water utility charges, waste management charges and associated levies.
That includes a Public Transport Levy of $43.58 per rateable assessment and a Rural Fire Equipment Levy of $35 on rateable land that also attracts a Class E Emergency Management Levy.
Council also set a Gates and Grids Permit Renewal Levy of $193.14 per gate or grid structure and kept a Library Related Activities Levy of $432,760.70 on Grand Central Shopping Centre under a special charge agreement with QIC Limited.
Alongside the rates and charges decisions, council adopted its 2026/27 Operational Plan, Debt Policy, Procurement Policy and Financial Sustainability Strategy 2026/27.
Reference minutes
Toowoomba Regional Council, Special Meeting of Council, 30 June 2026.
Key facts from the minutes
- Council granted a $70.00 per annum rebate of the water infrastructure charge.
- The rebate applies to eligible pensioners with access to any Toowoomba Regional Council water supply.
- Council also kept a $120.00 annual rebate on the general rate for eligible pensioners.
- The total budgeted change in rates and utility charges for 2026/27 was set at 7.34%, excluding discounts and rebates.
- Council maintained a 5% discount for eligible ratepayers who pay selected charges within 33 days.
- Council set the Public Transport Levy at $43.58 per rateable assessment.
- Council set the Rural Fire Equipment Levy at $35.00.
Why it matters
- The rebate gives eligible pensioners targeted relief on a basic utility charge while council raises a wide range of rates and levies for 2026/27.