Narromine ratepayers won't see a difference during bill time after new fee limits on council land valuations began this month.

The NSW government - specifically the Valuer General - charges local councils to value land, which can influence how much councils charge for rates.

Before the start of July, the maximum the Valuer could charge was based on whether councils were classed as metro, regional, rural or coastal.

That is all set to change.

In May 2025 the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal laid down their final report, which set a single maximum price of $7.93 per valuation for all councils regardless of location.

That rate is set for the 2024-25 financial year and will increase to $8.12 in the next after adjusting for inflation.

That means country councils will pay a lower limit than before, although Narromine Shire Council's Director of Finance and Corporate Strategy, Barry Bonthuys, said the savings are very small for his council and not enough to consider a significant rate decrease.

Narromine Shire Council's Barry Bonthuys. IMAGE: supplied

"The Council’s operating expenses is about $16 million per year, while the Council only collects $6.5 million in rates per year," Mr Bonthuys said.

"The expenses relating to valuation services by the Valuer General will decrease for Narromine by about $4,000 per year, hardly a difference to the yearly operating expenses of the Council. Considering the Council’s rate base, and only collecting $6.5 million in the rates per year, the saving is not even 0.06 per cent of for the average rates notice."

The new rate applies until 30 June 2029.

In most metropolitan councils, prices will increase by up to 10.1 per cent, and coastal councils by up to 1.7 per cent, before inflation.

Prices for regional councils will decrease on average by 13.4 per cent before inflation.

IPART began a review in August 2024 of the Valuer's prices.

During the review, the Valuer proposed increasing charges between around 21 and 38 per cent across four different zones.

The agency argued that they needed to meet increasing operating costs, while councils who wrote submissions to the review generally said the increases would be unjustified and hit their bottom line.

Warren Shire Council General Manager Gary Woodman said the new rate will mean around $2000 in savings on valuation fees from last year.

"That's $2,000 that will eventually, at the bottom line, go to go to increasing services directly to our ratepayers," Mr Woodman said.

He said the council last year paid about $20,000 in charges.