MUSWELLBROOK Shire Council is upset a large percentage of the community was not consulted before the NSW Valuer General’s Office released its land values for the LGA this week.
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NSW Acting Valuer General Michael Parker issued the department’s assessments, on Wednesday, which reflect the property market as at July 1, 2017.
He said residential and commercial land values had been steady over the 12-month period from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017.
Rural and industrial properties also displayed slight to moderate increases.
But, council was surprised the NSW Valuer General’s Office delivered a list of new valuations for the shire, with almost no notice.
It is understood that the new list was issued after discussions between the Minister for Local Government and consultations with the NSW mining industry.
The initial need to review mining valuations (but not other values) arose because of errors in the way in which land held for coal mining was valued in NSW following the decision of the Court of Appeal in Perilya v Valuer-General (Perilya).
The Valuer-General initially provided council with a list of new valuations for coal mines in December last year with an intention to apply the new values, for coal mines only, from July 1, 2018.
Council welcomed that decision – noting that there was an inherent inequity in the rates paid by various coal mines in the Muswellbrook Shire.
Valuing the land consistently with the decision in the Perilya case overcomes that inequity.
However, the Valuer-General suddenly announced it was abandoning that process on March 9, 2018.
On Monday, the office reversed that reversal, and provided council with new coal mining valuations consistent with the decision in the Perilya case.
Importantly, and over council’s objection, the Valuer-General also issued new valuations for all other rate-payers in the shire.
The decision to do so is done without consulting any rate-payers other than coal mining rate-payers.
Muswellbrook Shire mayor Martin Rush said it would impact all rate-payers in the shire – although it was not possible to calculate the precise effect at this stage.
“It is critical to the trust and confidence the community can have in the rating system in NSW that the processes of the Valuer-General’s Office are fair and transparent,” he said.
“It is neither fair nor transparent that the Valuer-General consulted the mining industry about its general revaluation but not other rate-payers.
“Nor is it fair that the Valuer-General leaves council just two weeks to rewrite its Revenue Policy.
“It does nothing for the trust and confidence the community can have in the valuation of lands in NSW that these decisions are made at the last minute, with partisan and secret consultation with big industry stakeholders but not small businesses, farmers and residential rate-payers.”
Council now has two weeks to prepare new rating documents for every rateable parcel of land in the shire – where it usually has three or four months to undertake that task.
