By Jeremy Cook
A report recommending an unprecedented overhaul of the Southern Downs Regional Council’s rating system will remain confidential, leaving some ratepayers feeling overlooked.
Local government rating specialists AEC Group were commissioned by the previous council late-last year to produce a long overdue review of the system used to calculate rates for Southern Downs ratepayers.
Prior to then, the council’s rating system had not been reviewed for 12 years.
That review, which will not be made public, has since concluded and a report handed down to councillors behind closed doors in early-May.
Details of its existence were kept largely hidden from public scrutiny until last month when, as part of the its latest budget proposal, the council unveiled sweeping reforms to its rating categories.
All of the proposed changes, which involved a complete rework of residential and agricultural rating categories, were made as a result of the review.
A council spokeswoman said the review could not be released publicly “as it is commercial in confidence as requested by AEC”.
“Council is in discussions with AEC to obtain a summarised version of the report that can be made available to the public,” the spokeswoman said.
For some residential ratepayers, the changes could have steep ramifications.
Helen Gibson has lived in Stanthorpe for more than a decade. Under the previous rating system, her rural residential property was categorised as “residential 3” as she was not connected to the council’s water supply. Whether or not Ms Gibson is connected to council water will no longer matter, under current proposals.
She will be siphoned into the “residential 1” bracket with her general rates set to increase by 25.05 per cent this financial year.
In her budget submission, Ms Gibson questioned the budget’s two week-long consultation process which she labelled “totally inappropriate and inconsiderate” given the “wide ranging” suite of proposed measures.
“I strongly believe that all levels of government, in particular local government, should involve its community in genuine and open community consultation,” she wrote in a budget submission.
“I have spoken with many residents of Stanthorpe and surrounds and have found that very few were even aware of the draft budget, the two weeks available for feedback, nor most importantly how they will be impacted if they live on certain blocks and have certain land valuations.
“They were appalled and angry when they realised that this major change in the rating system was being introduced and proposed without any community consultation taking place.”
In a letter sent to one councillor and seen by Warwick Stanthorpe Today, one ratepayer whose name remained anonymous questioned the review’s transparency.
“Is the AEC rating review referred to available as a public document?” they said.
Ms Gibson also accused the council of “misleading” the public.
“Recent media releases and draft budget information documents are, in my opinion, biased and very misleading and do not portray the facts that the draft budget contains,” she said.
Upon release, the draft budget was said to produce no general rate increases for three quarters of households.
“The fate of the remaining one quarter is not addressed but a rise is implied and has been demonstrated to be the case,” Ms Gibson said.
“The new proposed rating system is inappropriate and unfair to many ratepayers and gives discounts to the majority ….. and not a fair distribution of rate burden.
“Council and it’s consultants have made an error of judgement in either not understanding
the situation that has been created or not investigating this matter further.”
In the AEC review, residential rating levels were benchmarked against 13 Queensland local government areas including Balonne, Banana, Central Highlands, Goondiwindi, Gympie, Lockyer Valley, Maranoa, North & South Burnett, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Toowoomba and Western Downs.
A Southern Downs Regional Council spokeswoman said an additional 16 councils were considered when benchmarking other land uses. They included Brisbane, Cairns, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Isaac, Logan, Mackay, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redland, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Whitsunday.
