council rates on Land

[ocean view]

I have a question for some feed back..

I have since found out some answers from council but i will leave here any way as some of us may be in this situation..

One council in an area I invest in ,,,,has just again released the rate Invoices...

As a big investor in QLD I guess I don't care about the the amount to much as the Cap Growth IS SO HIGH...

But my gripe is if I have a block of land say 1000 sqs & I have no intention to build on it for say 3 years.. I am not using the council services , garbage ect,,, The rate amount is $4,100.00 per year.

Ok .....I under stand it works on the value as per the rate notice states..

But does any one know if we can get around or get a discount off the amounts if you can prove you have not built a home a yet..

It isn't fair to me????
if a home owner is using the garbage services ect.. & a land owner is not...
why do they get charged the same...

By the way brains,,,,, the caboulture shire council!!! Is the main offender! Are they as savage in your town...

Since typing this I have had a response from council but I may as well just not bothered.,,,

Has any one else had this situation !!! And what did their council say when confronted??

ocean view

 

[Frankd]

Hi there ocean view,
As a former local govt manager in vic we use to have a choice between rating on unimproved(site) values ie land only or capital improved values ie land plus improvements. A change from one system to the other required a referendum. While it can become a very complex issue the stock ansewer to your question was that it is wrong to tax people who use and improve their land by building on it and it was good to penalise people who sat on or speculated in vacant land - they eventually will build or sell to someone who does. I had my own view then as now.
I think most state gov'ts now tell councils how to rate property and there is no choice left to local communities.

 

[manny]

Hi OV,

well for a vacant lot I had purchased for development, my council charged us rates on the unimproved land value, which would have been comparative to the rates paid by people that did utilise various concil services (ie. garbage, etc...) & unfortunately there wasn't much I could do about it at the time (I suppose I could at least claim it on tax as the purpose of purchasing the land was to develop it for rentals)... I'd call the council if I were you to see if there is anything you can do? or whether they got it wrong?

The funny thing though, which I did revoked was that I was getting all these water bills for water usage & sourage disposal bills for a vacant lot that didn't have a tap on it???? I called Melbourne Water & was rectified quick smart...

Cheers,

MannyB.

 

[XBenX]

manny - haha sounds like everyone should check their Melb water bills

OV - ouch that adds some extra bite to holding costs... no way around it that I know...

 

[INVESTRON]

councils charge for whatever sercices are available, if they are in use or not.

it's not the only thing thats wrong with the whole rates system.

my rates pay the wages of at least 2 council staff, and they don't give a stuff.

boo hoo.

vote for me i'll fix it.

 

[bbg2003]

I too could not find a way out if it, been looking for many years..and still paying for services I've never used.

bbg2003

 

[cad]

Hi ocean view,

I don't want to sound unsympathetic to your issue but, you have bought a block of land in an area that has council services that you can use if & when you build.
If the council didn't have these services at your block it probably wouldn't be worth as much, so you have to pay for this convenience.

Think on the alternatives, gravel road, septic tank, and Tip runs with no curb side collection, water tank for drinking water and generator for power....not so appealing

Hope this helps to put it all in perspective.

Cad