OBERON district farmers battered by drought simply cannot absorb a steep increase in their rates because their land value has gone up, according to councillor Andrew McKibbin.
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Cr McKibbin, who focused on rate rises in his campaign in the 2017 local government election, says the district's landholders have not got more money to give.
"Donations to farmers and food packages are not what farmers want - farmers want council rate relief and no increase in rates in the current economic circumstances," he said.
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His comments come after the recent release of land values for the Central Tablelands by the NSW Valuer General, reflecting the property market at July 1, 2019.
From the 2016 base valuations to the 2019 base valuations, rateable land values across the Oberon local government area rose, on average, 52.18 per cent - from $880,064,301 to $1,369,283,091.
Oberon Council chief financial officer Theresa Boyd's report to council said the land value changes in the area "have been wide and varied" - from a decrease of up to 18 per cent to an increase of up to 369.4 per cent.
"Average income of farms has fallen in NSW from $2000 in 2017-18 to negative $69,000 in 2018-19. The landholder with a land value of $586,000 in 2016 has already had a cumulative 39.4 per cent increase in rates from 2015-16," Cr McKibbin said.
"A landholder who has a property valued by the VG [Valuer General] at $2.0 million in 2015-16 is paying $6100 in rates. By 2019-20, that landholder is paying $8503.40 due to cumulative SRV [special rate variation] and rate peg being 39.4 per cent.
"If the VG land value valuations undertaken in 2017 means the value of the land increases by 100 per cent over the 2016 valuation, the property is worth $4 million, then for 2020-21 the landholder will be paying $10,629. So in six years the rates have increased by $4529 - that is 75 per cent."
Cr McKibbin said the Valuer General has admitted that well-managed properties clear of weeds have had the highest increases, whereas properties significantly infested with serrated tussock and blackberries have had the lowest increases in land value.
"Similarly, whilst the value of improvements is meant to be deducted from the market value to ascertain the land value, this does not take account pasture improvement, rock removal or fertiliser application," he said.
"This means Oberon's best landholders are subsidising the bad landholders. This is clearly inequitable."
