The Queensland Government will on 30 June 2011 enact a new method for valuing residential land within the state based on “site value”. This replaces the system used since 1944 where the land valuation was based on “unimproved value”, where the raw land value was calculated without any improvements, such as land fill, drainage, revetment walls or retaining walls. The new system applies only to residential land, not to commercial, industrial or retail land.
The new “site value” system is not a blanket increase in values as the Gold Coast Mayor, Ron Clarke, suggests, but a selective increase if you happen to own canal-front, lake-front or steep residential land that has been filled and/or revetted. I doubt whether Council will be applying varying rates in the dollar to compensate such property owners. This is a typical State Labor move without an election mandate to alter the “unimproved” land valuation system to increase taxation, but the cost of administering the new system could well offset the additional revenue.
Valuers employed within the State Government’s Environment and Resource Management Department will need to obtain engineering advice to determine the value added to any block of land. This will require individual assessment of properties “en masse”, particularly in the Gold Coast where canal and lake-front properties are most common.
Local councils do not have to roll over and accept this change from the State Government. In fact, councils are not compelled to use the State Government’s valuations. Councils could just index last year’s valuations by say 3% (or CPI) across the board.
We have until 30 June to stop this. What was wrong with the old system which has stood the test of time for 67 years?
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