Has anybody tried to appeal to their council to have the council rate reduced and succeed?
Appealing Council Rate
LChrotzo on 20/04/2015 - 18:07
Comments
Councils usually use quite conservative estimates of your property's value. I know the value my council uses would never be enough to buy the land and house. If you think your valuation is completely wrong you can ask the council about it, but it may be better to keep quiet lest they actually raise it.
Rates are done on land value only. From what I have seen the estimates are usually fairly conservative. In NSW they are undertaken every 3-4 years by the Valuer General so the values themselves are not determined by your Council.
Councils have hardship provisions if you are suffering financial difficulty. If not probably just suck it up and move on. Your rates fund a huge amount of infrastructure and services.
"Rates are done on land value only". Not for all councils or states in Australia. In Vic my rates are based on capital improved value (entire property value). Presumably other Vic councils do the same but I can't confirm that.
Annual Rates and charges in Mackay Queenland I believe are double that of some cities toward Bribane.
I was looking at buying there, but as they have needed to tack on some extra levies and fees due to local problems, homeowners pays the bill.
So basically there nothing we can do.. i just feel City of Armadale is so expensive compared to other council.. i believe each council charges different rate/cents per dollar of the valuation??
Yep, they set whatever they rate they feel like. Usually depends on the budgeted amount of money they wish to raise divided by the total value of all the properties. This comes out to a "fair" distribution of costs between the property owners.
So it comes down to how much spend-happy your council is or whether your council finds providing certain services more expensive than other councils.
Yeah probably not a lot you can do. Have a look at their annual report if you want to see how the money is being spent.
I don't know anything about rates in WA but there are reasons why they could differ greatly between Councils.
Look at http://www.armadale.wa.gov.au/rates
Also it looks like at least some parts of WA calculate rates on gross rental value rather than land value.From what I've heard from a few people, councils regularly over estimate property value to get more rates.
As an example, I had a friend buy a property off the plan, and the day they step foot in the property they told us ( rather joyfully) that the council has valued their property for $50k more than what they paid.I was successful in getting my rates reduced.
The property civ was increased to $455000 last year from 402000 the previous year.
The increase to me was not justified so I contacted the council - they had an objection form thatI downloaded and filled out.
Had to provide justification (used sales values off realestate.com.au over the last few years on similar houses in the same location).
Based on this objection the council sent a valuer to the house to reassess. (it was an investment property so council arranged it with the real estate agent managing the property). I suggested on the objection form that the civ value should be 375000 so was happy with it being lowered to 400000 after the valuer reassessed it.
This was in regional Victoria and there was no cost to me.
My suggestion is you contact your council to determine if they have a similar process.how much did that change your rates bill?
$198 reduction
wow, I am surprised it made that much difference.
The only thing you can do is move buddy. You can't fight city hall :p
But seriously, as already said, rates are based on land valuations and are only worth arguing if you believe they have made a mistake with regards to plot size etc. Otherwise, if you get them to value it at your cost, it will almost certainly be higher.
I feel your pain, the council my houses are in applied to the state to have higher than normal rates increases each year for the next 5 years. Nice huh.
Go have a look at the breakdown of your rates - majority of the stuff are fixed cost, only a small portion is dependent on your land value which means you're shit out of luck.
They should be paying you to own a house in Armahole :P
JKs
We also live in the City of Armadale and I agree it is a complete rip off. They certainly aren't spending the money in our area. Good luck getting them to listen to your complaint if you decide to go down that path. They haven't been very receptive to complaints I have lodged regarding illegal parking on our street.
As previously stated, you can object to the land valuation which is used by councils to set the rates.
In WA, refer to Landgate:
http://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/property-reports/land-values/…The Valuation of Land Act 1978 (the Act) makes provision for "any person liable to pay any rate or tax assessed in respect of land, who is dissatisfied with a valuation of such land made under the Act, may serve upon the Valuer-General or any rating or taxing authority a written objection to the valuation".
Note: Time limits apply
I was part of a group of people complaining about City Of Gosnells rates and services to some areas of Canning Vale back in 2000/2001. I've since moved to an area within City of Armadale, and they are just as bad/worse.
Interestingly, the action back in 2000/2001 ended with a recommendation by the WA Local Government Advisory that councils be reviewed and look at consolidating. That eventually turned into the recent activity with all councils fighting the proposal (in an effort to preserve their income streams), and as WA residents know, it just got mothballed.
I believe the only way you can have your rates changed is to dispute your property value… And then I think it is your cost to have it revalued anyway….