YOUR SAY: Council dodging backpay on wrong rates valuation?

AFTER long suspecting the rates on our property were very high, I consulted with neighbours to find our rates were actually double places far bigger than ours.

AFTER long suspecting the rates on our property were very high, I consulted with neighbours to find our rates were actually double places far bigger than ours.

This led me to putting in an objection to Department of Natural Recourses and Mines, and the result came in that yes we had been over valued and that is why our rates were so high.

Background: Half Gympie students don't bother with school based vaccines

The valuation dropped from $380,000 to $155,000 and they admitted to the error which effectively halved our rates.

The fact that we may have been over valued for many years was admitted but they then informed me that they are protected by legislation and can only revalue our property back three years.

The result of this is the council will not repay anything they owe us further back than three years due to the fact that they will only take the land valuation given to them at the time.

We have owned the property 11 years and suspect that if the shire compared our property rates to those around us that they owe us a lot of money.

Now I know why our council is one of the richest, trying to legally get back what they owe us isn't an option because the valuers won't admit to their mistakes over the full time.

I can guarantee if it had been undervalued the results would have been different with the council demanding their money.

Ruth Griffin,

Kandanga.