ADELAIDE Plains Council (APC) mayor Mark Wasley has denied reports his council is trying to push through a 10 per cent rate rise on its ratepayers.
APC ratepayers have raised concerns a land value increase of 6.7 per cent, determined by the South Australian valuer-general, will be added on to a proposed three per cent rate rise in the APC 2019/20 budget, creating a 10 per cent rate increase.
In response to the concerns, Mayor Wasley said the council is “certainly not” proposing a rise of 10 per cent.
“To clarify council’s position on forecast rate rises for the 2019/2020 financial year, I can confirm that no decision has yet been made by the elected body,” he said.
“The exact figure (of a rate rise) has yet to be set, but it possibly will be less than CPI (consumer price index) – currently 1.8 per cent – and it would not surprise me if a zero per cent increase in the rate in the dollar was the most likely outcome when your elected council makes its final decision.
“What complicates matters for our councillors is that the valuer-general has recently revealed significant capital growth for our region.
“As a ratepayer myself, I have received a 40-something per cent increase in valuation this year so I understand the ‘big hits’ the community is talking about.
“This, coupled with new growth assessment, means that the elected body needs to proceed with caution in fixing rates and understanding the various financial impacts implications on both the Council and the community that the various models present.”
APC’s 2019/20 Annual Business Plan and Budget outlines options for a two, three or four per cent rate rise, with public consultation set to close today.
Council rates are determined by multiplying the value of a property, which APC determines by the valuer-general’s valuation of land, and the current rate in the dollar.
Adelaide Plains Ratepayers and Residents Association president Mel Lawrence said the council did not have to take in to account the valuer-general’s valuation of properties, and that by doing so council rates could rise by 10 per cent.
“Councils have been so used to using it (the valuer-general’s valuation of properties) they think it’s a given, and that’s totally wrong,” he said.
“It does not need to be used except for land tax…councils should not be using it.”
