This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the maximum prices that the Valuer General can charge NSW councils for land valuation services, which would see a structure based on geographical zones rather than one based on property uses.
A reduction in the overall revenue that the Valuer General can collect from councils, proposed in a draft report and determination released yesterday, proposes prices around 5.6% lower than those proposed by the Valuer General.
Land valuations are supplied to councils to use in the calculation of rates.
IPART chair, Dr Paul Paterson, said most councils would see their bills fall over the next six years under the draft decisions when excluding the effects of inflation, although some will see increases.
He said IPART is proposing to change the way Valuer General’s charges are levied
“This would involve moving from a uniform ‘property type’ residential and non-residential pricing approach across NSW to a zonal price structure across four zones – Country, Coastal, Metro and City of Sydney.”
Under the Draft Determination, councils would pay $7.42, $6.32, $5.83 and $12.07 per property valuation if they are positioned within the Country, Coastal, Metro and City of Sydney zones respectively.
“We consider the zonal price structure better reflects the costs of providing valuations, which can be driven by various factors, including the number and mix of property types, travel distance to conduct valuations, and the number of complex and high risk properties in an area,” Dr Paterson said.
He said the prices took into account the Valuer General’s proposal incorporating 2.0% of operating cost savings, resulting from the recent mass valuation procurement process.
IPART last set the maximum prices for the Valuer General’s charges to councils in 2014. These expire on 30th June, and the Premier has asked IPART to set the prices for the next six-year period, until the end of June 2025.
Submissions to IPART’s draft report and draft Determination are invited by 24th April.
Australian Property Journal
