Yamba
Rates shock
Hello Richie.
I would like to guess the secret sound.
Is it the
sound of a pensioner falling over at their letterbox when they open their rate
notice.
Frank Bonfanti
Gulmarrad
The Daily Examiner Page One 26 June 2013:
In debate, Cr Howe said these changes would unite the Clarence Valley.
"This is not about Grafton, there is no gang of five," he said.
This comment was followed by such jeers from the gallery that Cr Williamson
stopped the meeting and called for the public to show respect.
The Daily Examiner online 26 June 2013:
The council did not adopt a rating structure for the next four years as Cr Baker lead motion against defining the rating policy so far into the future.
"I put to this meeting that the motion while ever it attempts to set the rate beyond this year is unlawful," Cr Baker said.
And while the legality remained a point of division the councillors agreed with sentiment and limited the changes to this financial year.
UPDATE
Each property in the
Clarence Valley is valued by the NSW Valuer General.
The value is then
multiplied by a cents-in-the-dollar rate.
Added to the
cents-in-the-dollar total is a base amount which everyone in a given area pays.
If a base rate is not in
place the other system is to have a minimum rate.
Under this system if the
cents-in-the-dollar rate total was less than the minimum then the minimum
became the actual bill…..
In the case of Maclean
residences a minimum rate was previously in place.
So a property with a
land value of $60,000 would have returned a cents-in-the-dollar value of $420.
The minimum in Mac- lean
used to be $474 so the bill would have been $474.
Under the new system the
council has introduced a base, which everyone pays.
The cents-in-the-dollar
value for the $60,000 Maclean property would be $304.94 under the new system
but added to this is the new $260 base.
This means the bill for
the property in question rises to $564.94, an increase of just less than 25%.
Interestingly, under the
new structure, people who own a property worth more than about $140,000, in
Maclean, will see a reduction in their bill.
For Farmland properties
the opposite is true.
The increase in farmland
rates was achieved by increasing the cents-in-the-dollar rate and the more
valuable your property, the more your rates will increase.
The increase will be
more than 3.4% for farms worth more than about $600,000.
In out-of-town areas the
minimum and the cents-in-the-dollar rate has increased.
If your bill last year
was $458 or less, it will be $474 next year and if your property is worth more
than $107,000 your rates will increase by 6.9%.
In coastal villages
bills will increase by 9.36% unless your land is worth less than about
$110,000.
Lawrence and Wooloweyah
can both expect decreases in their rates of about 30% as they have been moved
out of urban categories.
Yamba residents can
expect 10% increases across the board.
And finally residents in
Grafton should expect a rise of no more than 3%.