‘Tenant tax’ dumped
The Cairns Chamber of Commerce and local real estate experts have celebrated the news of council’s decision to ditch its proposed differential rating system for investment properties.
On Thursday News Corp revealed the proposal, colloquially dubbed the “tenant tax” by locals, had been binned by council during its 2023/24 budget deliberations.
Cairns Chamber of Commerce CEO Patricia O’Neill said the decision was a “wonderful advocacy win”.
“Cairns Chamber of Commerce played a significant role in overturning the council’s decision to implement this ridiculous tiered rating system,” Ms O’Neill said.
“It was an advocacy priority for us and therefore we had numerous discussions and meetings with council over the last few months to address this.
“Investment properties are primarily owned by mum and dad investors; that is, small business owners in their own right, and it is our role as a chamber to advocate on their behalf.
“These landlords have created and will continue to provide a roof over the heads of many families, when there was limited housing available and very minimal housing infrastructure planned.”
But the question remains how the council will fill the revenue gap left by the proposal, $50m over 10 years, as it wades through the thick of budget discussions. Deputy
Mayor Terry James suggested the entire rate base will now have to account for that cost, which REIQ zone chair Tom Quaid said was the likely outcome.
“This will likely result in an increase being borne by all ratepayers across the board, which is never popular, but is at least more even-handed and understandable in the current climate of high inflation,” Mr Quaid said.
“I think property investors would welcome the decision by (the council) not to impose an unfair disadvantage and additional cost on the private investors that provide the majority of rental housing in our market.”
The council is now expected to raise rates across the board by 6 per cent, which News Corp revealed on Saturday.
Division 2 councillor Rob Pyne, who has held his ground on the idea since its inception, said the matter would have dealt with the question of which residents could afford higher rates and which residents could not.
A man was injured in a motorcycle crash on the Captain Cook Hwy on Saturday.
At 8.17am medics were called to the highway at Kewarra Beach after reports a man had come off a motorcycle.
A northbound lane closed.
The man aged in his 50s was reportedly conscious and breathing but lying in the middle of the road before ambulance crews arrived.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the man was taken in a stable condition to Cairns Hospital.
In 2020, after the death of 29-year-old motorist Sam Hendry at the Kewarra Beach roundabout, the stretch of highway was labelled the “Bermuda Triangle of Cairns traffic”.
In 2019 a Chinese tourist was also killed while attempting to cross the highway after being struck by a southbound car. was