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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Community Improvement District?
A Community Improvement District (CID) is a defined geographic area where business landowners and businesses agree — through a democratic ballot — to pool a small annual levy. That money is invested back into the precinct through programs, services and improvements that no individual business could afford or organise alone.
The key feature that makes it work is universal participation. If the ballot succeeds, every eligible business landowner within the boundary contributes — no opt-outs, no free riders. This keeps individual costs low while building a collective fund large enough to make a genuine difference.
CIDs are internationally known as Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). The model has been operating since Toronto in 1970 and there are now more than 2,000 operating across four continents.
No. A CID levy is fundamentally different from a tax in three important ways.
First, it only happens if the businesses and landowners of the precinct vote for it. If the ballot doesn't achieve the required thresholds, there is no CID and no levy. A tax is imposed by government — a CID levy is approved by the people who pay it.
Second, every dollar stays within the precinct — spent exclusively on programs approved by and for the businesses that contribute. A tax goes into consolidated revenue with no direct link to local benefit.
Third, the levy is administered by Transport for NSW under a dedicated fund (the CID Levies Fund) and paid to the CID entity specifically to deliver the approved program. It cannot be redirected or repurposed.
s.28–30 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
No. The Act is explicit on this point. The CID Levies Fund is established within the NSW Special Deposits Account. Transport for NSW is the administrator — but the stated purpose of the fund under the Act is to hold money received on behalf of CID entities before distributing it to them for the purposes of approved CID proposals.
There is no provision in the Act for any deduction, fee or charge by government from the levies collected. The levy income collected is held in the fund and paid to the CID entity to meet expenditure in connection with the approved CID proposal. Payments are made in accordance with the directions of the Minister.
Transport for NSW may only withhold payment if the CID entity has failed to comply with the Act, the regulations, or the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 — a protection for levy payers, not a mechanism for government to retain funds.
s.28, s.29, s.30, s.30(4) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
No — and this is an important distinction. CID programs are required to be additional to what government and councils already provide. They cannot fund services that would otherwise be council responsibilities.
A CID invests in programs that go above and beyond existing services — a free Hopper Ferry, a precinct-wide data platform, international marketing campaigns, events and activations. These are things that no individual council budget would fund for a single commercial precinct.
Nothing in the Act alters the rights, liabilities or obligations of a council under the Local Government Act 1993.
s.6 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Transport for NSW was designated as the CID Authority because it originated and administered the CID Pilot Program, giving it deep institutional knowledge of the model, working relationships with precincts, councils and proponents, and an established legislative framework.
The Act also reflects that Transport has a statutory objective under the Transport Administration Act 1988 to improve the activation of public spaces — directly aligned with the core CID objective of enhancing local neighbourhoods and attracting visitation.
Many CID precincts are anchored to major transport infrastructure, meaning Transport is well-positioned to align CID delivery with transport access, public realm upgrades and movement planning. The Act also includes a three-year statutory review clause (s.41) allowing Parliament to reassess the Authority arrangement if needed.
s.41 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
What does the CID actually deliver?
The New Sydney Waterfront CID will deliver seven key initiatives over its five-year term:
1. A free electric Hopper Ferry connecting all eight sub-precincts — from Year 2.
2. Signature events and activations including regular fireworks and drone shows at Darling Harbour.
3. A world-leading precinct data and analytics platform available to every member business.
4. An international marketing and recognition program in partnership with Tourism Australia and Destination NSW.
5. A coordinated marketing program to grow annual visitation from 94.3 million to 110 million.
6. A professional wayfinding strategy and physical implementation across the precinct.
7. A formally constituted, legislatively-backed shared voice for every business in the precinct on government, planning and transport decisions.
The CID program budget for Scenario A is $18,921,295 over the five-year term (2026–2031), funded by a base levy of $3,250,000 in FY2026 escalating at 2.5% CPI per annum. The program is designed to deliver a surplus of $601,173 over the five-year term — evidence of financially disciplined budgeting.
The full program budget and expenditure rationale will be set out in the CID Proposal, available to download once approved by Transport for NSW.
Yes. The New Sydney Waterfront CID will be the first formally legislated Community Improvement District in Australia, established under the Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW) — the first legislation of its kind in the country.
There have been informal pilot programs and precinct management arrangements in various NSW locations, but none with the formal legislative framework, democratic ballot process and statutory accountability requirements established by the CID Act 2025.
What's the difference between the CID, the council and Placemaking NSW?
These three bodies have distinct roles that complement each other — they do not overlap or duplicate.
The City of Sydney Council is the elected local government responsible for the area. It manages public infrastructure, approves development, provides community services and sets local planning policy. It is funded through council rates and government grants. The CID Act explicitly states that nothing in it alters the rights, liabilities or obligations of a council — the CID does not take over any council function.
Placemaking NSW is a division within Transport for NSW that leads government-funded place activation and public realm programs across NSW. It works on government-initiated projects — public domain upgrades, green spaces, activated streets — using government funding. It is not levy-funded, not democratically mandated by the businesses of a specific precinct, and does not have the sustained, business-led operational focus of a CID.
The CID is business-led, levy-funded and democratically mandated specifically by the businesses and landowners of this precinct. It delivers programs that are explicitly additional to what council and government already provide — international marketing, the Hopper Ferry, a world-class data platform, events and activations. It is the only body with a legal obligation to deliver exclusively for this precinct, funded entirely by this precinct's businesses.
In practice the three work collaboratively. The CID's advocacy role is designed to influence and unlock government and council investment — not to replace it.
s.6(1) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
With it — and the Act builds this in by design. Before a CID ballot result can be acted upon, the relevant local council must be notified and given 30 days to confirm support. If the council does not support the proposal, Transport for NSW must take that into account.
CID entities are expected to work closely with their local councils throughout the CID term — and in practice this often involves a formal written agreement or contract between the CID entity and the council, covering how the CID will avoid duplicating existing services, areas for collaboration and how disagreements will be resolved.
The New Sydney Waterfront Company has maintained regular bi-monthly meetings with the City of Sydney throughout the pilot period, and the City of Sydney contributed $40,000 in seed funding to the pilot. The relationship is collaborative by design.
s.14 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
How does the vote work — and is it fair?
This is one of the most common questions — and it's worth understanding how the ballot is actually structured.
There are two separate voter categories under the Act: business landowners and CID businesses (tenants and licensees). Each category votes independently, and both thresholds must be met for the ballot to succeed.
For business landowners, the rule is one vote per parcel of land — not one vote per owner. If a large corporation owns ten parcels within the boundary, it gets ten votes. If a small business landowner has one parcel, they get one vote. The levy each landowner pays is also proportionate to their land value — larger landowners pay significantly more. So the system is not "one large company, one small business, equal votes" — voting weight is distributed across parcels of land, which broadly reflects relative scale of ownership.
For CID businesses (tenants), each eligible business gets one vote regardless of size. This is the democratic element — every business that operates in the precinct has an equal say in whether the CID is established.
The dual-threshold system also provides a protection: a result driven entirely by large landowners cannot succeed without the support of at least two-thirds of business tenants, and vice versa.
s.13 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Two thresholds must both be achieved for the ballot to succeed:
Landowner threshold: 50%+1 of business landowners who vote must vote YES — with at least 25% of all enrolled landowners participating.
Business threshold: 66.67% (two-thirds) of CID businesses who vote must vote YES — with at least 25% of all enrolled businesses participating.
Both thresholds must be met simultaneously. Meeting one but not the other means the ballot does not succeed. The dual requirement ensures that neither landowners alone nor businesses alone can impose a CID on the other group.
s.13(4) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Voting is not compulsory. However the 25% minimum participation threshold in each voter category means that low turnout can prevent the ballot from succeeding — even if those who do vote are overwhelmingly in favour.
If fewer than 25% of enrolled voters in either category cast a valid vote, the participation threshold is not met and the ballot cannot succeed, regardless of the result among those who voted.
So while you cannot be compelled to vote, not voting does have a consequence — it makes the participation threshold harder to reach for everyone.
s.13(4) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW) · CID Regulation 2025
The ballot structure provides two important protections against this.
First, the business (tenant) threshold requires two-thirds of CID businesses to vote YES — and each business gets one equal vote regardless of size. A large landowner voting YES cannot override the views of the tenant community.
Second, the Act provides a Small Business Advisory Panel function — Transport for NSW must maintain a panel to advise on matters concerning small businesses' relationship with CIDs.
The CID proposal for the Sydney Waterfront also includes a levy-free threshold — properties with a gross land value below a specified threshold are exempt from the levy, providing explicit protection for smaller property owners.
s.8 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW) · s.22(9)(b)
What does it cost – and what protections exist?
The New Sydney Waterfront CID levy is set at 0.095% of the unimproved land value of each eligible business property — as assessed by the NSW Valuer-General. This is the same valuation methodology used for council rates.
For example: a commercial property with an unimproved land value of $5,000,000 would have a Year 1 levy of $4,750. If the owner chose to share this with four tenants on a 50/50 basis, each tenant's share would be $594 — less than $12 per week.
The levy is indexed at 2.5% CPI per annum over the five-year CID term and is capped at $150,000 per property regardless of land value.
s.22–24 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Yes — the Act explicitly allows for a levy-free threshold to be specified in the approved CID proposal. Properties with a gross land value below that threshold are exempt from the levy.
The New Sydney Waterfront CID proposal includes such a threshold, meaning smaller properties are exempt from levy obligations while still being invited to participate in and benefit from the CID program voluntarily.
Even businesses below the threshold can engage with the CID's marketing initiatives, events program, data platform and networking opportunities — they simply are not required to contribute the levy.
s.22(9)(b) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Yes. The levy is charged to business landowners, but it is explicitly a recoverable outgoing under the Retail Leases Act 1994 (s.12A(3)). This means landlords can pass the levy on to tenants as an outgoing under their lease — provided the lease allows for it.
The split between owner and tenants is a matter for commercial agreement between the parties — no particular arrangement is mandated. Some owners may absorb the full levy; others may share it proportionally across tenants.
s.6(3) Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW) · Retail Leases Act 1994, s.12A(3)
The Act includes an explicit hardship provision. Transport for NSW may waive or reduce the levy if it is satisfied that payment would cause serious hardship to the levy payer.
If you believe the levy would cause serious hardship to your business or situation, you can apply directly to Transport for NSW for a waiver or reduction. Transport for NSW must notify the CID entity of its decision.
If you think this provision may apply to you, we recommend contacting Transport for NSW directly and seeking independent financial or legal advice.
s.27 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
The CID levy is a charge on the land itself — not on the individual owner personally. Under the Act (s.24), the levy is attached to the property. This means that when a property is sold, the levy obligation transfers with the land to the incoming owner.
You are liable for the levy for the period during which you own the land. Once you sell, you are no longer the owner of that land and are therefore no longer liable for future levy obligations.
Any unpaid levies outstanding at the time of sale would need to be resolved as part of the settlement process — similar to how unpaid council rates are treated in a property transaction.
We recommend seeking independent legal advice about how this applies to any specific property transaction.
s.24 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
If you acquire business land within the CID boundary after the CID has been established, the levy obligation attaches to the land — not to the previous owner. As the new owner, you become liable for levy obligations from the date of your ownership.
The levy is imposed annually and calculated on the unimproved land value of the property. The annual levy amount is set at the start of each year and falls due in accordance with the notice issued by Transport for NSW.
If you are purchasing a property within the precinct and want to understand the levy implications before settlement, we recommend contacting our team and seeking independent legal advice. The levy obligation should be considered as part of any due diligence on a property purchase within the boundary.
s.22–24 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
The levy is charged to business landowners — not to businesses or tenants directly. If you are a tenant who relocates, you are not personally liable for the levy — your landlord is. Any passing-on arrangement under your lease would cease to apply once your lease ends.
If you are a business landowner who sells your property, the levy obligation transfers with the land to the new owner as described above.
If you are a business landowner who retains ownership of the property but moves their business elsewhere, you remain liable as the landowner for the levy on that property for as long as you own it — because the levy is a charge on the land, not on the business activity conducted there.
s.22–24 Community Improvement Districts Act 2025 (NSW)
Yes. Landowners and CID businesses are two separate voter categories under the Act. Your landlord votes as a landowner. You vote as a CID business. Both categories are independent and both thresholds must be met separately.
If fewer than 25% of enrolled voters in either category cast a valid vote, that threshold cannot be met and the ballot does not succeed — regardless of how those who did vote voted. Participation matters.
Yes. Once the ballot succeeds, Transport for NSW imposes the levy on all eligible business land by Gazette order (s.22). Universal participation is what keeps individual contributions low and makes the program fund genuinely powerful.
No. The CID Regulation requires the ballot to be a secret ballot conducted by postal voting only. There is no online or in-person voting option.
The Act includes a hardship provision. Transport for NSW may waive or reduce the levy if serious hardship can be demonstrated (s.27 CID Act 2025). Contact Transport for NSW directly if this applies to your situation.
The Act does not apply to government land as defined in s.33–34. Whether this applies to your specific property depends on how your land is held. Contact our team and seek independent legal advice before drawing any conclusions.
The voter roll is compiled by Transport for NSW from Land Registry Services data. If you want to confirm your details are current, contact our team. Applications for enrolment must be made before the close of enrolments — date to be confirmed by Transport for NSW.
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