Meeting set with Valuer General

Published on 01 October 2020

Mayor Darriea Turley AM will meet with the Valuer General next week to try and address a spike in the value of land in the city's industrial area.

Industrial land value rose by around 55 per cent after valuations were undertaken by the Valuer General in late 2019.

As land value is a key factor in the determination of rates, the rise in land value resulted in a big increase in rates for industrial businesses.

Mayor Turley said the rate rise had been a cause of deep concern amongst some industrial businesses, and at last night's Council meeting a motion was passed that a meeting be organised with the Valuer General regarding the issue.

"Land value is inextricably linked with rates, so that spike in land value resulted in a bit of a ‘rates shock’ for industrial businesses," said Mayor Turley.

"I spoke with the Valuer General first thing this morning to set up a meeting, so we'll see if we can get that land value brought down to a more proportionate level which will in turn reduce the rates on those industrial properties."

Council's Chief Financial Officer, Jay Nankivell, said that Council had not intentionally increased rates in the industrial area, and reiterated that the rate rise was directly linked to the spike in industrial land value.

"Unfortunately some misinformation is being circulated that Council increased rates in the industrial area to fill a hole in the budget, and even that we increased rates to cover money lost due to COVID-19," said Mr Nankivell.

"That's all completely untrue, Council did not collect any extra rates in total as a result of the rise in industrial land value.

"Industrial properties were just required to contribute more to the annual rates total collected from businesses as their property value increased by around 55% while the value of the rest of the city reduced on average by around 13%.

"If locals feel their land is being overvalued it is important that they raise the issue with the Valuer General when valuations are undertaken every three years."