Out of council hands

Source: Wangaratta Chronicle 21 Feb 09

State moots change to property valuations

Written by STEVEN BURKE.

PROPERTY valuations for rating purposes could be taken out of the Rural City of Wangaratta’s hands, if a State Government proposal is approved.

The government recently released a discussion paper outlining a plan to hand over the management of all property valuations to the Valuer General’s office, thus eliminating council from the process.

Council’s business services director, Ray Park, said if adopted, the proposal would mean anyone with concerns about the value applied to their property would need to contact a call centre, instead of speaking to someone at the local council offices.

He said there were some potential positives to be gained from the proposal.

"The advantages of the proposal are that there can be more certainty that all the valuations across the state are conducted on the same basis and can be directly comparable," Mr Park said.

"There’s also the potential for some cost savings."

But Councillor Roberto Paino said he was concerned costs may in fact rise.

"As we all know with previous experience, with all manner of government departments where they say they’re going to have a monopoly on the system and any discount will be wonderful, it never is," he said.

"What generally happens is that costs rise and they generally rise excessively.

"If you look at the submission, it has suggested cost savings of 10 per cent over 10 years could be achieved.

"Show us the proof - there isn’t any."

The new proposal could also dilute council’s close relationship with ratepayers, according to Cr Rozi Parisotto.

"This type of strategy takes away the connection that council can have with their ratepayers and who best knows about the region, but council itself?" she said.

"This new process would mean you would not have that direct contact and it eliminates the directness and the decision making that could be quite easily made by council."

Council has made a submission in response to the draft paper outlining its concerns.