Maranoa region excluded from 2025 land valuation program

Maranoa ratepayers, still reeling from the removal of rate capping, will be met with some reprieve as the region is excluded from the next round of land revaluations as land values continue to skyrocket across most of the state.

Maranoa Regional Council generic. Photo: Lachlan Berlin

 

Ratepayers in the Maranoa Region will not have their land valued in the next year, in a move which will provide more stability for residents who saw changes in their rates since the removal of rate capping.

In their October 9 meeting, the Maranoa Regional Council noted correspondence from the Queensland Department of Resources which said the Maranoa local government area would not be included in the 2025 valuation program.

While the decision is not in council’s control, it will likely mean relief for residents whose rates jumped after capping was removed in the 2024/25 budget and most rates were reattached to the value of the land.

In the meeting, councillor Jane Vincent said the Maranoa’s exclusion in the land valuation program was a good thing.

“We’ve had a few rate payers who have only just felt the impact from the last valuations so it’s probably comforting to them to know they haven’t got any valuations coming up in the next 12 months,” Ms Vincent said.

Mrs Taylor also emphasised it was positive for the region.

“Stability in valuations for next year will provide some certainty to residents and fewer variables for council to manage when setting rates for next year,” Mrs Taylor said.

“A challenge we faced this year in setting our rates strategy was how to deal with capping given the inequity that it created within same rate categories across our region.

“The removing of capping focused on restoring equity and fairness within categories, however we acknowledge this did result in some assessments increases and some decreasing.

“Rates setting is something that is done by resolution of council and is discussed during the annual budget preparation process, which will start again around March 2025.

“With property values remaining the same for next year this process should be much more straightforward.”

Capping was introduced in the 2020/21 budget, which at the time was able to provide stability to ratepayers in a challenging economic climate, and in that time shielded ratepayers from some massive increases in land valuations, which is a trend across most local government areas in the last four years.

The mechanism was removed for all rating categories excluding rural properties in the 2024/25 Maranoa Regional Council budget, which reattached rates to land values in the region.

Only 14 local government areas across Queensland will be included in the 2025 land valuation program, including the Brisbane City Council, Cairns Regional Council, Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Charters Towers Regional Council, Logan City Council, Murweh Shire Council, Paroo Shire Council, Quilpie Shire Council, Rockhampton Regional Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, South Burnett Regional Council, Southern Downs Regional Council, Toowoomba Regional Council, and the Townsville City Council.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.