Increase depends on valuations

Your council rates may exceed or be lower than the 3.5 per cent overall increase, Cr Peter Kostos has warned.

Cr Kostos explained the 3.5 per cent increase applied to the total rates revenue received by Baw Baw Shire, not to individual ratepayers.

“I always try and stipulate and clarify the ratings strategy and how it works,” Cr Kostos said.

“It doesn’t mean that your property will go up 3.5 per cent. The rates will depend entirely on what your valuation is.”

He said valuations were undertaken every 12 months by the Valuer-General’s office and not by a contracted valuer in Baw Baw Shire.

“Some people will experience more than 3.5 per cent,” Cr Kostos said. “But a lot of the residents...will actually get a decrease in their rates, partly because of the increased number of people now living in Baw Baw Shire.”

For a residential property, rates are calculated multiplying the property value by 0.002502.

The rate in the dollar for commercial properties is 0.003253, vacant land is 0.004504, farm land is 0.002002, urban living is 0.002252 and residential development is 0.003253.

“All of those figures are actually less than last year compared to CIV (Capital Improved Value),” Cr Kostos said, dropping between 4.54 and 4.57 per cent.

Cr Michael Leaney said the rate had dropped considerably as more and more people moved into the area. “It will happen again next year.”

“But you can see there is a gap between what our rate that we are able to collect, the volume of people moving in and the infrastructure they require, and the increased cost of that infrastructure,” he said.

The draft budget states the option of applying to the Essential Services Commission for a rate rise above the 3.5 per cent cap “has been considered and rejected by council”.

“This is something council considers every year as an alternative to go above the rate cap,” mayor Annemarie McCabe said.

“In weighing up all the challenges of enforcing that in the budget, it’s never been worthwhile,” she said. “So we’ve always elected not to.”