In December 2021, Council upgraded its property and rating technology system installing a new and improved system which provides a central location for all rates payments, property applications and certificate requests. The upgrade finished ahead of schedule and created a more convenient, streamlined experience for our residents and ratepayers. 

During this upgrade, current and historical outstanding charges were identified as two systems (previously Wyong and Gosford) became one. 

In January 2022, Central Coast Council issued Debtor Statements to its current active sundry debtor customers, to advise of outstanding current and historical charges. All statements issued during January 2022 are correct and valid. 

Approximately $1 million has been identified as being outstanding against the historic accounts.  No inflation or interest has been applied to these outstanding debts. 

Council has a responsibility to the community to recover legitimate debts, and as part of Council’s financial recovery commitment, Council does not have the ability to absorb up to $1M of outstanding debts.

Council acknowledges this matter may have caused concern for some ratepayers, and asks any ratepayers who have questions related to these statements, to please contact Council via Council’s 24/7 online Customer Service Centre at www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au or by calling 02 4306 7900.  Council has a Debt Recovery and Hardship Policy and will engage with relevant customers about their individual circumstances.

Some of this unpaid debt relates to historical lawful charges for kerb and guttering.  Thousands of ratepayers have paid these costs when due for these services and the unpaid debt is relative to a small portion of ratepayers.

For the small number (590 customers) of accounts that are impacted by Council’s action, each account will be assessed to determine if the Statute of Limitations will apply. 
 
There are provisions within the Local Government Act 1993 and the Roads Act 1993 which allow for debt to be recovered with limitation periods of up to 20 years. 
 
If it is determined that an account falls within the provisions of the 20-year limitations, Council may determine to validly recover the costs owing. If it is determined that an account is covered by the seven-year Statute of Limitations, Council may not seek to recover the costs owing.

Council has issued historic Debtor Statements to 590 Council customers.

While the new property and rating system includes an updated template for Debtor Statements which displays the information in a modestly updated design, Council recognises this design change was not expressly advised to customers and apologises for causing any confusion on the legitimacy of these Debtor Statements. Council is contacting customers who received a Debtor Statement to ensure they are aware that the outstanding amount owing is correct, and Council can answer any questions they may have.