Launceston Ratepayers AGM Report & Valuation and Local Government Rating Review

The Association held it's Annual General Meeting on Monday last and the presidents report is now attached to this site ... click here access the report

Also on Monday the Association presented its Final Draft Report - Valuation and Local Government Rating Review to the Department of Premier and Cabinet. In summarary the reports conclusions are as follows:

"As we have been finalising this submission, news has arrived that Launceston City Council has dismissed the adoption of the Draft Final Report in its entirety, opting at its Council Meeting held a week ago to simply note the Final Draft Report titled Valuation and Local Government Rating Review, and instead undertook to conduct its own major public review of the ratings system as per Council decision of June 27 2011, prior to determining a final position on any new valuation and local government rating system.

MOTION: (27 June 2011)

That Council;

1. Presents modelling undertaken on the implementation of a rating system based on Unimproved Capital Value (Land) and the impacts, positive and negative that this would have on ratepayers;
2. Provides written advice on the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of such a system and presents the advice to the public;
3. That, more importantly, Council undertakes a major public review of the current rating system and determines, in consultation with the community, the fairest, most progressive and simplest rating system available in Australia; and
4. Implements the system agreed upon, for the rating period beginning 2012-13 

This unanimous decision of LCC, which has been made public since June 2011, has put the Draft Final Report into question, not only because it does not support the findings of the Steering Committee, but highlights how the Steering Committee has failed to take the previous resolution of LCC into account, and furthermore sees the need for a more thorough and public review to be conducted.

TRA Inc. Response to Final Draft Report Valuation and Local Government Rating Review Accordingly, the Tasmanian Ratepayers Association advises it does not support the recommendations of the Steering Committee to the State Government, as presented in the Draft Final Report dated October 2012, and calls upon the State Government to review the 

Terms of Reference of the Steering Committee to align with public expectations and reconstitutes the composition of the Steering Committee to include for a balance of members to independently represent the public interest, not being drawn from the Local Government Association membership, before returning the reconstituted Steering Committee to the task of reviewing the Local Government Valuation and Local Government Rating systems.

To access a full copy of the report as a PFF please eMAIL TRA_Editor@7250.net