SOME Whittlesea ratepayers have won appeals against valuations of their homes that added hundreds of dollars to their rates.
Cheryl Booth, of Doreen, said her rates rose from $1800 to $2600. She obtained sales results on similar houses and argued her home was overvalued. It was reassessed and the rate increase halved to $400, which the council says was a one-off case.
Phillip Stacey said the council value on his Doreen house jumped by $90,000 to $683,000 this year.
“I wouldn’t have a hope of selling it for that,” he said. “It jumped $90,000 in one year at a time when the market has fallen.”
He said his rates rose from $1800 to $2122. The self-employed carpenter, who is off work without insurance because of injury, said the increase hurt. He won a revaluation but it only knocked off $67. “If I got an independent valuer it could cost $120 or more and any saving would be eaten up by that.”
The council’s manager of property and valuation services, Gino Mitrione, said there had been 350 objections to the 75,000 valuations made. “Around half of the objections have been processed, with a handful resulting in the property value being adjusted by a nominal amount,” he said.
“There are over 50 attributes that can affect the value of properties, including location, size of land, size of buildings, date of construction, number of rooms and bedrooms.”
Meanwhile, Whittlesea ratepayers face possible further rate rises next year, plus a compulsory $100 state government fire insurance levy on each residential property. The council must fund a $6.8 million shortfall in a super scheme for employees.
Councillor Mary Lalios called for the state government to change the scheme, which was compulsory for councils until it closed in 1993.
“We all know that if our superannuation funds make losses we just bear the negative returns, while the few that are in this scheme are being propped up by Whittlesea residents.”
