Gold Coast council rates: Biggest hikes, what you need to know

Unit owners in Gold Coast high rises have been slugged with monster rate rises – with as much as 50 per cent – leading to claims a controversial ‘view tax’ has been reinstated. Full details.

Mayor Tom Tate with council budget papers. Picture: John Gass.

Owners of apartments in Gold Coast high-rises have reacted with astonishment after being slugged with monster rate rises.

Greg Van Dam, who lives in a Chevron Island apartment, said he was stunned when he received his bill on Tuesday and discovered it had gone up by 20 per cent.

Other apartment owners have been slugged with rises as high as 50 per cent, with people paying more depending on what floor they are on.

A council spokeswoman said 12,209 highrise units were included in the new rate categories.

Mr Van Dam said he was angry he had only learned about the change when he received his bill, having heard Mayor Tom Tate – in Paris to attend the Olympics – say rate rises were being kept to an average of 4.24 per cent when the city’s budget was handed down last month.

“I only found out when I got my rate notice. Tate was happy to say rates only going up 4.3 per cent, which was not true for a large percentage of the Coast’s population. Now when the information has dropped he (is in) Paris for the Olympics.”

Greg van Dam was stunned to see his rates were being hiked by 20 per cent when he received his bill.

Mr Van Dam said he could afford it but was concerned about young people with big mortgages, struggling with the rising cost of living.

“We all know we have to pay for services. I don’t have any problem with that. But they need to be more transparent about it.

“We had to raise strata rates in our building and we sat down with the owners and explained exactly why we had to do it. They haven’t done that.

“We’re ok. We don’t have a mortgage. But you have a lot of young people who bought into highrises with mortgages because they couldn’t afford a house – this is just another kick in the guts.”

Information sent by council to owners of units in high rise blocks with their rates bill.

A flyer sent with rates notices to owners of high-rise units said the method used to calculate their general rates had changed “to ensure fairness and equity for all ratepayers”.

The flyer explained rates would rise more depending on what level the unit was on.

* 40th floor or higher, the rate rise was between 40 and 50 per cent.

* Between 21 to 40, the rise was between 30 to 40 per cent.

* Between 11 to 20, the rise was between 20 and 30 per cent.

* For 5 to 10, the rise was 10 to 20 per cent.

There is no change to the general rate for units below a fifth floor.

“This change will mean higher valued units are charged at a higher general rate,” the council flyer stated. “The method also considers the size and floor level of the unit to determine the general rates charged.

“The previous method meant a first-floor highrise principal place of residence unit may have paid the same general rates as a 40th floor penthouse. This adjustment will result in greater equity in general rates that are levied.”

Mayor Tom Tate speaks to the media after handing down council’s budget on June 7. Picture: John Gass.

However the head of a peak owners group slammed the new charges as a “view tax”.

“It’s just another take, a money grab,” Unit Owners of Association of Queensland president Mike Murray said.

“It’s not equitable – if anything it’s more inequitable.”

Mayor Tate led a campaign within council to overturn a similar “view tax” in 2013, telling unit owners in a letter that such a system was “fundamentally flawed, given high rises and gated communities share communal facilities which, in fact, lower the cost of delivering core city services including road, sewage, water and rubbish collection”.

“It has always been my commitment as Mayor to correct this unfair tax …,” he told the association.

A 2013 letter from Mayor Tom Tate about the abolition of the 'View Tax'.

Strata Community Association Queensland general manager Laura Bos said unit owners had been “blindsided”.

“There appears to have been little to no consultation with apartment owners on the implementation of the new structure and no warning,” she said.

“In a cost of living crisis this will hit many families hard, especially when they haven’t had the opportunity to prepare for it.

“At a time when we have a housing crisis, and we are looking to apartment living as an affordable and sustainable solution, it beggars belief that Council thought it an appropriate time to change the rating structure on residential apartments. We need to keep apartment living affordable and attractive as a housing option.”

Strata Community Association (Qld) general manager Laura Bos. Picture: Supplied.

A council spokesperson said the majority of home owners had still received rates increases of 4.24 per cent or less.

“The City’s 4.24 per cent net rates and charges increase applies to properties that are a principal place of residence on the minimum general rate or with an average rateable valuation below the City median,” the spokesperson said.

“71.58 per cent of principal place of residence properties received a 4.24 per cent net rates and charges increase or less.

“The City has adjusted its method used to calculate general rates for high-rise units that are a principal place of residence to ensure fairness and equity across all ratepayer categories.

“The general rate for high-rise units will vary depending on the unit’s rate categorisation which takes into the unit’s size and floor level.

“This change ensures unit owners are charged fairly based on the effect that unit size and floor level has on a property’s value. The previous method did not take these factors into account. For example, under the previous method a 1st floor high-rise principal place of residence unit may have paid the same general rates as a 40th floor penthouse.

“This change will also bring rates in line with the method used for other units that are permanent or short-term rentals.”

The spokesperson said general rates revenue had risen by 8.29 per cent this financial year.

The changes come after Bulletin reports about wide disparities between rates paid by people in community titles schemes. About 1000 home owners were delivered large rates cuts last year when the disparity was exposed.

In 2022, the Bulletin also revealed how thousands of ratepayers had been overcharged for years, sparking Mayor Tate to order a review recommending a simpler ratings system be introduced.

Follow @keithjwoods

Originally published as Gold Coast council rates: Biggest hikes, what you need to know