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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-12 Daily Xml
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PROPERTY VALUATIONS

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (16:05): I rise today to speak about problems in the Riverland, Lower Lakes areas and surrounding townships. The issues I raise today affect all residents in these areas, especially those with commercial properties, and I believe that some relief should be available to owners. To highlight this issue, I will briefly outline a recent incident that occurred in the Barmera township.

As a strategy of the government's water-saving policy, Lake Bonney at Barmera has been disconnected from the Murray for the past 12 months. During this time, the township of Barmera has suffered financial and psychological hardship, and residents of the area were hopeful that a recent application to the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure from the Jet Ski Boating Association to hold a jet ski racing competition on Lake Bonney would be approved. However, safety concerns were raised over the Lake Bonney site, as there was a risk of a competitor in the race encountering a submerged object whilst racing. The promoters of the event, the Jet Ski Boating Association, is in agreement with the department's decision, and the event will now be held at Martin's Bend at Berri.

Residents were disappointed and frustrated when they learnt of the decision, as they were hopeful that the competition would provide much needed financial relief by way of accommodation bookings and revenue generated by tourists. This event would have been a morale booster for the township and would have raised awareness of the Lake Bonney region.

The drought has already had a devastating effect on farmers and irrigators along the length of the Murray and, as demonstrated with the Lake Bonney example, commercial businesses in the Riverland, Lower Lakes and Goolwa have also been suffering as a result of the downturn in tourism. The consequential decline in the value of business premises as a result of the downturn in business activity must be taken into account.

Most people would not be aware that the Valuer-General has the authority to reduce rating valuations where loss of value occurs and even for individual loss of property due to fire, storm and flood. This was demonstrated in the past after similar natural disasters, such as the hurricane that hit Glenelg in 1948, the earthquake in 1954 and the Ash Wednesday, Wangary, South-East, Mid North and Kangaroo Island bushfires.

In the majority of cases, there are few, if any, property sales that provide evidence of the decline in value, but this should not be a reason for the Valuer-General not providing some relief. One of the legal precedents guiding him suggests that, if there is any doubt, that doubt should be resolved in favour of the ratepayer.

Land and business agents in these townships are in the best position to provide advice on any reduction in demand which may, in turn, lead to a decline in value. I understand that the Valuer-General has instructed his regional officers to seek advice from agents regarding local market trends, and I commend him for this.

Reductions in property values will affect the budgets of revenue authorities. A redistribution of the rate burden for local government and natural resource management levies could be made, because these budgets are relatively small. However, with the larger SA Water, emergency services and land tax budgets, any reduction in valuation is likely to be minimal and offset by revenue from the rest of the state.

The Valuer-General is required to value all land within the state at least once every five years, and currently undertakes annual valuations. At present, the value assigned to land must be the value of the land as at 1 January each year, and these valuations become operational on 1 July each year. These dates are determined by the Valuer-General in accordance with the Valuation of Land Act, and valuations are gazetted annually. However, the act also allows the Valuer-General to adjust or correct valuations at any time, and these come into effect on a date determined by him.

I commend the Valuer-General for contacting irrigators at the end of 2007 asking owners to provide information concerning the removal of plantings. This information would enable him to revalue these properties and thus consequently provide some relief in the rates and taxes that they would have paid. However, I suggest that the Valuer-General take the further initiative of taking into account the difficulties experienced by businesses in the Riverland and Lower Lakes areas and to see fit to review and adjust valuations where necessary.

Time expired.

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