INTERACTIVE TABLE: Mackay’s suburb-by-suburb land valuations

New land values are out and the figures are stunning with some spots spiking by 25 per cent. FIND YOUR SUBURB HERE

Caneland Central, near Mackay's Pioneer River.

The latest figures on land values across Mackay are in with double-digit increases slamming some suburbs, signalling higher tax bills could soon be in the pipeline.

The median value of land in Walkerston jumped 25 per cent from October 2019 to October 2022, from $139,000 to $175,000, while the populous suburbs of West Mackay and Mount Pleasant both recorded an increase of more than 10 per cent.

Marian soared by more than 25 per cent from $157,500 to just under $200,000.

State land tax is determined by the valuations delivered by the Valuer-General, but a rise in median value does not necessarily translate to higher taxes for all landowners.

Individuals are only liable for land tax payable to the state government if the taxable value of their land exceeds $600,000.

For businesses, the threshold is $350,000.

The total value of commercial land across Mackay increased 5.7 per cent from 2019 to 2022, from $619.84m to almost $655.31m.

Industrial land rose 6.9 per cent from about $591.41m to $632m.

Land used for primary production skyrocketed 59.6 per cent from about $478.34m to about $763.58m.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson acknowledged the “significant rise” in valuations but stressed the increase did not mean council rates would match the jump.

“Just because your land valuation went up by 12 per cent, doesn’t mean to say the rates are going to go up by that much,” he said.

“That is not the case.”

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson. Picture: Duncan Evans

To calculate the rates, the council adds up its annual operational cost and then divides that figure by the 53,400 rateable properties across Mackay.

“When we divide the operational cost into the value of all of those properties, we try to do it as equitably as possible,” Mr Williamson said.

The increased valuations do not deliver additional revenue into the council’s coffers.

“We don’t raise any extra money out of this other than what it costs us to run the council,” he said.

Mr Williamson has pledged to keep rate rises at or below the consumer price index, a measure that tracks price changes in a basket of goods and services to reflect household inflation.

But given the “astronomical” CPI environment, Mr Williamson said he and the council would try to do “a lot better than that”.

“That means trimming our budget,” he said.

“We know that ratepayers are feeling the pinch and we know the cost of living in Queensland and Australia is very high.”