Concerns linger over land values

Published on 20 February 2023

Mayor Tom Kennedy tabled an urgent Notice of Motion at Wednesday night's Policy and General meeting to object to the latest land valuations applied to properties in the city.

The Valuer General recently completed a review of Broken Hill, with land values increasing by as little as 40% in some instances and by more than 100% in others.

The large variance will continue the trend of significant disparity in land values across the city, which will in turn cause further inequality in rates paid by each household.

Mayor Kennedy said he wanted to reassure locals that Council does not make more money from rates due to land valuations, and that the amount of rates each household pays is directly linked to their land value.

"Council only ever collects a set total amount of rates each year, but the amount each household contributes to that overall yearly total is directly linked to the value of their land," he said.

"So people get a spike in land value and their rates bill increases dramatically, and they naturally assume that Council is gouging them for rates.

"We just want to make it clear that that's not what's happening, and we'll be fighting to ensure there's more equality across the board when it comes to rates."

Mayor Kennedy said Council's own staff would continue investigating the outcomes of the Valuer General's review, and letters of objection would be sent to the city's State and Federal Members, along with relevant Ministers and Shadow Ministers.

"We need a fairer outcome, and perhaps even a review of the model used to determine land values as the disparity in a city the size of Broken Hill is simply too large in my opinion," he said.

"You might have one family paying $1,000 in rates, and another family only a few blocks away paying double or triple that amount.

"All households receive the same level of service from Council so we need to find an outcome that spreads rates more evenly across the city."

Council staff and Councillors are also set to meet with the Valuer General in Sydney this week to discuss the issue.